Päivänsalo V. Balancing Reasonable Justice: John Rawls and Crucial Steps Beyond

London: Routledge, 2007 — 218 p. — ISBN10: 07546567484; ISBN13: 978-0754656746.John Rawls's pioneering work of political philosophy A Theory of Justice has had far reaching influence on modern liberal political philosophy. Rawls' sprinciples of justice as fairness: the principle of liberty, the principle of fair equality of opportunity and the famous 'difference principle' have been both heavily criticized and incorporated into other political theories. In this book Päivänsalo both presents a deep analysis of the whole Rawlsian canon and builds upon and goes beyond Rawls's conception by introducing a fresh theoretical framework to clarify and modify different balances of the elements of Rawlsian justice. Justice as fairness is analyzed into its parts and elements, critically examined to find the strongest most favourable interpretations of each principle and in this light the principles are reconstructed and rebalanced in such a way as to resist the most significant criticisms of the Rawlsian project.Introduction: Rawls and BeyondFundamentals of ConstructionJustification, Judgments, and Circumstances
Original Positions
Three Starting Points of ConstructionReasonable Democracy and Responsible PersonsOutlines of a Reasonable Democracy
Reasonable Democracy as a Procedure
Primary Goods, Common Goods, and Responsible Persons
Partial Comprehensiveness and Balancing Reasonable JusticeExtensions and BalancingDifferent Peoples and Different Rights
Economic Inequalities and Different Principles
Caring at Different LevelsConclusions: Between Traditions, Theories, and Intuitions