John Rawls is widely known for his writings on justice, fairness, liberty, equality, and the social contract. Here are some of his most important quotations, especially useful for Political Science exams:
1. “Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought.”
— A Theory of Justice (1971)
2. “Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others.”
— A Theory of Justice (1971)
3. “Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both: (a) reasonably expected to be to everyone’s advantage, and (b) attached to positions and offices open to all.”
— A Theory of Justice (1971)
4. “The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance.”
— A Theory of Justice (1971)
5. “The principles of justice are to be chosen behind a veil of ignorance.”
— Rawls's formulation of the original position in A Theory of Justice.
6. “Justice as fairness is a political conception of justice for a constitutional democratic society.”
— Political Liberalism (1993)
7. “Public reason is characteristic of a democratic people: it is the reason of its citizens, of those sharing the equal citizenship.”
— Political Liberalism (1993)
8. “A well-ordered society is a society effectively regulated by a public conception of justice.”
— A Theory of Justice (1971)
Most important for exams
The two quotations most commonly associated with Rawls are:
> “Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought.”
and
> “Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others.”
These capture two central ideas of Rawls's justice as fairness: justice as the fundamental standard for institutions and equal basic liberty for citizens.
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