WORK
A Theory of Justice
John Rawls's 1971 masterwork — the book that revived social contract theory, introduced the veil of ignorance and the difference principle, and became the most influential work of political philosophy of the twentieth century.
A Theory of Justice is a systematic treatise in political philosophy that constructs, defends, and applies a conception of justice Rawls calls justice as fairness. The book's central argumentative move is the derivation of two principles of justice from the reasoning of rational parties in the original position. The principles — equal basic liberties for all, combined with fair equality of opportunity and the difference principle — are defended through a complex argument that spans the book's nearly six hundred pages. The work transformed political philosophy from the position it had occupied in the middle of the twentieth century (largely preoccupied with conceptual analysis and the meaning of moral terms) into a systematic, substantive inquiry about the principles that should govern the institutions of modern democratic societies.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The book is organized into three parts. Part One develops the theory — the original position, the veil