Quotes of John Rawls - somelinesforyou

“ The fairest rules are those to which everyone would agree if they did not know how much power they would have. ”

- John Rawls

“ Many of our most serious conflicts are conflicts within ourselves. Those who suppose their judgements are always consistent are unreflective or dogmatic. ”

- John Rawls

“ Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. A theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue; likewise laws and institutions no matter how efficient and wellarranged must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust. Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. For this reason justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others. It does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by the larger sum of advantages enjoyed by many. Therefore in a just society the liberties of equal citizenship are taken as settled; the rights secured by justice are not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social interests. ”

- John Rawls

“ Thus I assume that to each according to his threat advantage is not a conception of justice. ”

- John Rawls

“ Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. A theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue; likewise laws and institutions no matter how efficient and wellarranged must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust. Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. For this reason justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others. It does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by the larger sum of advantages enjoyed by many. Therefore in a just society the liberties of equal citizenship are taken as settled; the rights secured by justice are not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social interests. ”

- John Rawls

“ An intolerant sect has no right to complain when it is denied an equal liberty.... A person's right to complain is limited to principles he acknowledges himself. ”

- John Rawls

“ Let us now consider whether justice requires the toleration of the intolerant, and if so under what conditions. There are a variety of situations in which this question arises. Some political parties in democratic states hold doctrines that commit them to suppress the constitutional liberties whenever they have the power… ”

- John Rawls

“ Let us now consider whether justice requires the toleration of the intolerant, and if so under what conditions. There are a variety of situations in which this question arises. Some political parties in democratic states hold doctrines that commit them to suppress the constitutional liberties whenever they have the power… ”

- John Rawls

“ The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance. ”

- John Rawls

“ In constant pursuit of money to finance campaigns, the political system is simply unable to function. Its deliberative powers are paralyzed. ”

- John Rawls

“ The only thing that permits us to acquiesce in an erroneous theory is the lack of a better one; analogously, an injustice is tolerable only when it is necessary to avoid an even greater injustice. ”

- John Rawls

“ Certainly it is wrong to be cruel to animals and the destruction of a whole species can be a great evil. The capacity for feelings of pleasure and pain and for the form of life of which animals are capable clearly impose duties of compassion and humanity in their case. ”

- John Rawls

“ The only thing that permits us to acquiesce in an erroneous theory is the lack of a better one; analogously, an injustice is tolerable only when it is necessary to avoid an even greater injustice. ”

- John Rawls

“ The bad man desires arbitrary power. What moves the evil man is the love of injustice. ”

- John Rawls

“ The bad man desires arbitrary power. What moves the evil man is the love of injustice. ”

- John Rawls

“ Ideally citizens are to think of themselves as if they were legislators and ask themselves what statutes, supported by what reasons satisfying the criterion of reciprocity, they would think is most reasonable to enact. ”

- John Rawls

“ To employ the coercive apparatus of the state in order to maintain manifestly unjust institutions is itself a form of illegitimate force that men in due course have a right to resist. ”

- John Rawls

“ Let us now consider whether justice requires the toleration of the intolerant, and if so under what conditions. There are a variety of situations in which this question arises. Some political parties in democratic states hold doctrines that commit them to suppress the constitutional liberties whenever they have the power… ”

- John Rawls

“ The only thing that permits us to acquiesce in an erroneous theory is the lack of a better one; analogously, an injustice is tolerable only when it is necessary to avoid an even greater injustice. ”

- John Rawls

“ To employ the coercive apparatus of the state in order to maintain manifestly unjust institutions is itself a form of illegitimate force that men in due course have a right to resist. ”

- John Rawls

“ A theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue. ”

- John Rawls

“ A theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue. ”

- John Rawls

“ A society regulated by a public sense of justice is inherently stable. ”

- John Rawls

“ The only thing that permits us to acquiesce in an erroneous theory is the lack of a better one; analogously, an injustice is tolerable only when it is necessary to avoid an even greater injustice. ”

- John Rawls

“ To employ the coercive apparatus of the state in order to maintain manifestly unjust institutions is itself a form of illegitimate force that men in due course have a right to resist. ”

- John Rawls

“ In constant pursuit of money to finance campaigns, the political system is simply unable to function. Its deliberative powers are paralyzed. ”

- John Rawls

“ To employ the coercive apparatus of the state in order to maintain manifestly unjust institutions is itself a form of illegitimate force that men in due course have a right to resist. ”

- John Rawls

“ Clearly when the liberties are left unrestricted they collide with one another. ”

- John Rawls

“ The only thing that permits us to acquiesce in an erroneous theory is the lack of a better one; analogously, an injustice is tolerable only when it is necessary to avoid an even greater injustice. ”

- John Rawls

“ Certainly it is wrong to be cruel to animals and the destruction of a whole species can be a great evil. The capacity for feelings of pleasure and pain and for the form of life of which animals are capable clearly impose duties of compassion and humanity in their case. ”

- John Rawls
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