WoodrowWilsonDepartment of Politics
GFPT 8020 G. Klosko
Rawls and Critics 381 Gibson; 4-3092
Spring 2017
The following books have been ordered at the University Bookstore and are on reserve in Clemons Library. All articles not in one the two collections are on reserve, on line on the class's "collab" page.
In regard to the two collections, while I have ordered them and recommend purchasing them, all the articles are on the class collab page and can also be accessed and downloaded through JStor, HeinonLine ( or other data bases.
J. Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Harvard, paperback) (either edition, though I prefer the original)
J. Rawls, Political Liberalism (Columbia, paperback).
J. Rawls, Collected Papers (Harvard, paperback) (CP).
The Law of Peoples (Harvard, paperback)
Justice as Fairness, A Restatement (Harvard, paperback)
N. Daniels, ed., Reading Rawls (Stanford, paperback) (RR).
T. Hedrick, Rawls and Habermas: Reason, Pluralism, and the Claims of Political
Philosophy(Stanford, paperback)
1. Introductory
J. Arras, "The Way We Reason Now: Reflective Equilibrium in Bioethics,"Oxford
Handbook of Bioethics, B. Steinbock, ed. (collab).1/24
recommended: Rawls, "Outline of a Decision Procedure in Ethics," CP, 1-19.
recommended: T. Pogge, John Rawls, Chap. 1 (collab).
2."Two Concepts of Rules," CP, 20-47.1/31
"Justice as Fairness," CP, 47-72.
Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Chaps. I-III;
3. Theory of Justice, Chap. IV: Secs. 31-35, 38-40;V: Secs. 48, 49; VII: Secs. 63, 66-
67;VIII: Secs. 69, 77; IX: Secs. 78-82, 86-7. 2/7
T. Nagel, "Rawls on Justice," in RR.
D. Lyons, "Nature and Soundness of the Contract and Coherence Arguments," in RR.
4. J. Fishkin, "Justice and Rationality: Some Objections to the Central Argument in
Rawls'sTheory,"American Political Science Review, 69 (1975). (collab) 2/14
Justice as Fairness, A Restatement, Secs. 23-30, 33-40.
recommended: J. Harsanyi, "Can the Maximin Principle Serve as a Suitable Basis for
Morality?"AmericanPolitical Science Review, 69 (1975). (collab)
5. H.L.A. Hart, "Rawls on Liberty and Its Priority," in RR.2/21
N. Daniels, "Equal Liberty and Unequal Worth of Liberty," in RR.
Rawls, "The Basic Liberties and Their Priority," in Political Liberalism, 287-369.
Justice as Fairness, A Restatement, Secs. 30-32.
6. Cohen's Critique and beginnings of Political Liberalism 2/28
G. A. Cohen, “WheretheActionIs: On the Site of Distributive Justice,” Philosophy and Public Affairs, 27 (1998) (collab).
Rawls, "The Idea of an Overlapping Consensus," CP, 421-48.
S. Scheffler, “Moral Independence and the Original Position,”Philosophical Studies, 35 (1979) (collab).
7. Political Liberalism.3/14
Suggested:Rawls, "Justice as Fairness: Political Not Metaphysical,'" CP, 388-414.
Strongly Recommended: B. Dreben, "On Rawls and Political Liberalsim," in Cambridge Companion to Rawls, S. Freeman, ed. (collab)
8. Political Liberalism3/21
M. Sandel, “The ProceduralRepublic and the Unencumbered Self,” Political Theory, 12
(1984) (collab).
P. Weithman, “John Rawls and the Task of Political Philosophy,” Review of Politics, 71 (2009) (collab).
K. Baier, "Justice and the Aims of Political Philosophy,"Ethics, 99 (1989). (collab)
G. Klosko, "Political Constructivism in Rawls's Political Liberalism," American Political Science Review, 91 (1997) (collab).
R. Rorty," The Priority of Philosophy to Democracy," inThe Virginia Statute of Religious
Freedom: M. D. Peterson and R C. Vaughan, eds.(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988) (collab).
Recommended: G. Klosko, "Rawls's 'Political' Philosophy and American Democracy,"
American Political Science Review, 87 (1993) (collab).
9. Rawls, "The Idea of Public Reason Revisited," CP, 573-615. 3/28
N. Wolterrstorff, N. Wolterstorff, “The Role of Religion in Decision and Discussion of
Political Issues,” in R. Audi and N. Wolterstoff, Religion in the Public Square
(Rowman and Littlefield, 1997) (collab)
Klosko, “Rawls's Public Reason and American Society,” Reflections on Rawls: An
Assessment of his Legacy.Shaun Young, ed. ((Aldershot: Ashgate 2008); collab).
10. T. Hedrick, Rawls and Habermas4/4
11.The Law of Peoples4/11
D. Reidy, "Rawls on International Justice: A Defense," Political Theory, 32, (2004) (collab)
A. Buchanan, “Rawls's Law of Peoples: Rules for a Vanished Westphalian World ,”Ethics,
110 (2000) (collab).
12 Additional Readings (if time allows): Global Justice4/18
T. Nagel, The Problem of Global Justice," Philosophy and Public Affaires, 33 (2005) (collab).
T. Pogge, "Real World Justice," Journal of Ethics, 9 (2005) (collab).
M. Risse, "How Does the Global Order Harm the Poor?" Philosophy and Public Affairs, 33 (2005) (collab).
M. Risse, "What We Owe to the Global Poor," Journal of Ethics, 9 (2005) (collab).
D. Miller, "Against Global Egalitarianism," Journal of Ethics, 9 (2005) (collab).
13 - 14. paper presentations 4/25 - 5/2
Requirements
It is essential that you do all reading and come to class prepared to discuss it. There are alsotwo formal requirements.
1. Paper of approximately 20 pages, either critical or literature evaluation (in WORD, submitted on collab)
2. Presentation of paper: in the twenty-five minute range.