scholarly journals Ideal and nonideal theory: A conceptual overview

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-173
Author(s):  
Milica Trifunovic
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Ideal Theory ◽  
Nonideal Theory ◽  
Law Of Peoples ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
Conceptual Clarification ◽  
The Law ◽  
Conceptual Overview

The article gives conceptual clarification on a distinction between ideal and nonideal theory by analyzing John Rawls? theory as presented in his books ?A Theory of Justice? and ?The Law of Peoples.? The article tries to show the importance of ideal theory, while at the same time pointing out that the distinction, ideal and nonideal, needs further qualification. Further, the article also introduces the distinction of normative and descriptive into ideal and consequently nonideal theory. Through this four-fold distinction it is easier to establish the function of each theory and the separation of work-fields between philosophers, politicians and lawyers.

PROBING THE LIMITS OF RAWLS’S REALISTIC UTOPIA

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 334-353
Author(s):  
Annette Förster
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Ideal Theory ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Law Of Peoples ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
International Theory ◽  
Feasibility Constraint ◽  
The Law ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Theory Framework

Abstract:InThe Law of Peoples, John Rawls introduces a framework for realistic utopia, within which the limits of practicable political possibility are probed through the further development of his international theory. This essay addresses the apparent paradox of realistic utopianism within the context of, and in relation to, ideal theory, in an attempt to explore the scope and limits of Rawls’s theory. The ideas behind Rawls’s realistic utopia are discussed in detail, the concept is contrasted with ideal theory in order to assess to what extent Rawls’s framework for realistic utopia introduced inThe Law of Peoplesdiffers from other forms of ideal theory, and the limits of realistic utopianism are identified.I argue first, that, in an attempt to address the potential feasibility constraint, Rawls tries to distinguish his framework of realistic utopia from that of more traditional ideal theory. I then proceed to examine the differences between realistic utopianism inThe Law of Peoplesand ideal theory inA Theory of Justice. I then conclude that Rawls only partially meets the challenge of establishing practicable political possibility. In actuality, Rawls’s focus on ideal agents in ideal as well as nonideal theory, together with his emphasis on societies as closed and self-sufficient, ignores the potential for noncompliance by liberal and decent societies, as well as interdependencies between societies that can cause or lead to injustice, conflict, and instability. I argue that despite these flaws, Rawls’s approach nevertheless provokes new insights into the function of the principles of the ideal theory framework as guidelines for real-world policies striving toward peace, stability, and justice.

scholarly journals The construction of a ‘realistic utopia’: John Rawls and international political theory

2002 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRIS BROWN
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
John Rawls ◽  
Ideal Theory ◽  
Law Of Peoples ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
International Political Theory ◽  
Utopian Thinking ◽  
The Law ◽  
Decent Peoples

‘The limits of the possible in moral matters are less narrow than we think. It is our weaknesses, our vices, our prejudices that shrink them.’Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract Book II, Chapter 12.2 [cited from John Rawls The Law of Peoples, p. 7]After presenting a brief sketch of John Rawls's theory of justice, his international political theory is outlined and evaluated. Rawls develops a classification of ‘peoples’ based on whether or not they are ‘well-ordered’. The Law of Peoples covers ‘liberal’ and ‘decent’ peoples who adhere to minimum standards of human rights and are not aggressive in their international relations. This is in the realm of ‘ideal’ theory; ‘non-ideal’ theory must cope also with societies that are not well-ordered, such as outlaw states and burdened societies. The long-term aim is that all should be part of a confederation of decent peoples. Rawls's theory has been criticized by cosmopolitan liberals for its communitarian tendencies, but has much to offer scholars of international relations, including a systematic basis for classifying states, a helpful discussion of the distinction between reasonableness and rationality, and a powerful restatement of the importance of utopian thinking in international relations.

Ideal and Nonideal Theory in Political Philosophy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Thompson
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Comparative Judgment ◽  
Ideal Theory ◽  
Nonideal Theory ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
The Status ◽  
Just Society ◽  
Methodological Concern ◽  
The Many

The distinction between ideal and nonideal theory is an important methodological concern in contemporary political theory. At issue is the extent to which political theorizing is a practical endeavor and, consequently, the extent to which real-world facts should either be factored into political theorizing or else be assumed away. The distinction between ideal theory and nonideal theory was first introduced by John Rawls in his classic A Theory of Justice. Rawls’s ideal theory is an account of the society we should aim for, given certain facts about human nature and possible social institutions, and involves two central assumptions. First, it assumes full compliance of relevant agents with the demands of justice. Second, it assumes that historical and natural conditions of society are reasonably favorable. These two assumptions are individually necessary and jointly sufficient for his ideal theory. For Rawls, nonideal theory primarily addresses the question of how the ideal might be achieved in practical, permissible steps, from the actual, partially just society we occupy. The account of ideal and nonideal theory advanced by Rawls has been subject to criticism from different directions. Amartya Sen accepts Rawls’s distinction between ideal and nonideal theory but argues that Rawlsian-style nonideal theory is too ideal. Given the many and severe injustices we face we do not need to know what ideal (or “transcendental”) justice looks like; our focus should not be on how to transition toward this ideal. Instead, the advancement of justice requires a comparative judgment which ranks possible policies in terms of being more or less just than the status quo. G. A. Cohen, by contrast, argues that Rawlsian-style ideal theory is not really ideal theory as such, but instead principles for regulating society. Our beliefs about normative principles should, ultimately, be insensitive to matters of empirical fact; genuine ideal theory is a form of moral epistemology (an exercise of identifying normative truths).

Reconstructing Rawls's Law of Peoples

1997 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 215-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Paden
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
International Justice ◽  
Law Of Peoples ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
Liberal Societies ◽  
Original Argument ◽  
The Law

In his recent article “The Law of Peoples,” John Rawls attempts to develop a theory of international justice. Paden contrasts “The Law of Peoples” with Rawls's “A Theory of Justice,” reconstructing Rawls's new theory to be more consistent with the earlier work. Paden finds Rawls's new theory inadequate in its response to communitarian criticisms, those that advocate a different theory of good than that of liberal societies. Paden goes back to “A Theory of Justice” to state that all societies seek one good, that is, the protection of their just institutions. In so doing, he provides a more expansive view of the interests of societies, which, he argues, is more consistent with “A Theory of Justice” than “The Law of Peoples,” yet avoids the flaws identified in the original argument.

scholarly journals El ius gentium y la idea liberal de un orden mundial justo en John Rawls

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Higinio Llano Alonso
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Con A ◽  
Law Of Peoples ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
The Law ◽  
Ius Gentium

Este artículo se centra en The Law of Peoples (1999), libro con el que John Rawls cierra el tríptico de su concepción socio-democrática de la justicia dentro de la tradición liberal, iniciada a principios de la década de los ‘70 con A Theory of Justice (1971), donde describe la justicia como equidad como un ideal moral universal al que deben aspirar todas las sociedades, y continuada dos décadas más tarde con Political Liberalism (1993), obra en la que el pensador estadounidense abunda en su idea de extender una concepción política de la justicia al Derecho de los pueblos y a su función reguladora de las relaciones justas entre los pueblos. De cualquier modo, pese a que Rawls admite expresamente la ascendencia que tienen sobre su idea de justicia el contractualismo y el iusnaturalismo kantianos, así como la influencia que ejerce sobre su estudio dedicado al Derecho de gentes la doctrina universalista e iusirenista del Derecho internacional público, veremos hasta qué punto satisfizo o defraudó Rawls con su visión pluralista del orden mundial las expectativas de quienes esperaban que hiciera una defensa firme de la justicia universal y de la democracia cosmopolita. 

scholarly journals La propuesta filosóficopolítica de John Rawls en el marco de The Law of Peoples

Magistro ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
William Farfán Moreno
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Law Of Peoples ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
The Law

Antes de abordar cualquiera de las problemáticas que surgen en la obrade John Rawls –The Law of Peoples–, es imprescindible comprender variosde los constructos que emplea el filósofo norteamericano en su propuestafilosófico-política desde A Theory of Justice hasta Political Liberalism.Los constructos son el procedimiento que asegura una convivencia políticaya sea entre ciudadanos, como lo propone Rawls en A Theory of Justice y locomplementa luego en Political Liberalism, o entre naciones a través de supropuesta en The Law of Peoples. Por lo tanto, el objetivo de este documentoes realizar una reconstrucción de tales constructos dentro de la propuestanormativa con la intención de plantear los problemas que surgen al interiordel derecho de gentes “rawlsiano”.

scholarly journals APRESENTAÇÃO – DOSSIÊ RAWLS

2011 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Denis Coitinho Silveira
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Law Of Peoples ◽  
Justice As Fairness ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
The Law

A edição especial da Revista Dissertatio pretende refletir sobre a importância da filosofia moral e política de John Rawls no cenário filosófico atual no ano em que sua obra mais conhecida, A Theory of Justice (TJ), completa quarenta anos. Esta data comemorativa é apenas um pretexto para uma avaliação integral do projeto de Rawls, o que inclui obras posteriores, como, por exemplo, Political Liberalism (PL) e The Law of Peoples (LP). Os artigos aqui reunidos procuram tematizar tanto a estrutura quanto o conteúdo da teoria da justiça como equidade (justice as fairness), avaliando atentamente as suas virtudes e, também, as suas fraquezas

John Rawls, “The Law of Peoples,” and International Political Theory

2000 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 125-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Brown
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
English Language ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Law Of Peoples ◽  
Amnesty International ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
International Political Theory ◽  
International Issues ◽  
The Law ◽  
Political Philosopher

John Rawls is the most influential English-language political philosopher of the second half of the twentieth century – indeed, perhaps since John Stuart Mill. His influence rests partly on the very format of his masterwork, A Theory of Justice. But Theory is a flawed and incomplete masterpiece, and the “Rawls industry” that has developed around his work has been stimulated by these imperfections. Indeed, Rawls himself has corrected and elaborated upon his original formulations in a series of essays compiled in Political Liberalism and his recent Collected Papers. One of the most controversial features of Theory concerns its handling of international issues; Rawls turned to this question explicitly in an Amnesty International Lecture of 1993, “The Law of Peoples” (published in his Collected Papers), which he has now extended into a monograph with the same title. The latter is the main focus of this essay, which also includes a sketch of Rawls's project as a whole as a necessary preliminary.

Justice After Rawls

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Arneson
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
John Rawls ◽  
Law Of Peoples ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
The Law ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
National Borders

This article examines the changes in the conception of justice after John Rawls. It explains that Rawls single-handedly revived Anglo-American political philosophy and his theory consists in an egalitarian vision of justice. It discusses criticisms on Rawls' theory of justice and identifies some alternative paths. It suggests that while Rawls' book The Law of Peoples adopted a conservative and somewhat anti-cosmopolitan stance, the doctrine of egalitarianism within national borders and minimal duties across borders may ultimately prove to be unstable under examination.

scholarly journals EPISTEMOLOGIA MORAL COERENTISTA EM RAWLS

2011 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Coitinho Silveira
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Moral Theory ◽  
Decision Procedure ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Law Of Peoples ◽  
Justice As Fairness ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
The Law

Meu principal objetivo neste artigo é analisar o problema da justificação moral para John Rawls a partir dos textos A Theory of Justice (TJ, IX, § 87), Political Liberalism (PL III, § 2), Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (JF I, § 9), The Law of Peoples (LoP I, § 1), “Outline of a Decision Procedure for Ethics” (ODPE), “The Independence of Moral Theory” (IMT), “Justice as Fairness: Political not Metaphysical” (JFPnM). Minha intenção é a de caracterizar a teoria da justiça como equidade como um sistema coerentista de justificação que conta com uma epistemologia coerentista holística, uma teoria do contrato social que introduz uma ontologia social e uma estratégia pragmatista na teoria contratualista. No escopo deste trabalho, analisarei as características da epistemologia coerentista holística pressuposta e de como ela resolve os problemas de regresso epistêmico, dogmatismo, dualismo, assimetria e circularidade.

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