Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Abbreviations for Rawls’s texts
- Introduction
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- R
- 174 Race
- 175 Rational choice theory
- 176 Rational intuitionism
- 177 Realistic utopia
- 178 The reasonable and the rational
- 179 Reasonable hope
- 180 Reasonable pluralism
- 181 Reciprocity
- 182 Reconciliation
- 183 Redress, principle of
- 184 Relective equilibrium
- 185 Religion
- 186 Respect for persons
- 187 Right: concept of, and formal constraints of
- 188 Rights, constitutional
- 189 Rights, moral and legal
- 190 Rorty, Richard
- 191 Ross, W. D.
- 192 Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
- 193 Rule of law
- 194 Rules (two concepts of)
- S
- T
- U
- W
- Bibliography
- Index
189 - Rights, moral and legal
from R
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2015
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Abbreviations for Rawls’s texts
- Introduction
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- R
- 174 Race
- 175 Rational choice theory
- 176 Rational intuitionism
- 177 Realistic utopia
- 178 The reasonable and the rational
- 179 Reasonable hope
- 180 Reasonable pluralism
- 181 Reciprocity
- 182 Reconciliation
- 183 Redress, principle of
- 184 Relective equilibrium
- 185 Religion
- 186 Respect for persons
- 187 Right: concept of, and formal constraints of
- 188 Rights, constitutional
- 189 Rights, moral and legal
- 190 Rorty, Richard
- 191 Ross, W. D.
- 192 Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
- 193 Rule of law
- 194 Rules (two concepts of)
- S
- T
- U
- W
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Somewhat surprisingly, there is no index entry under “rights” in either A Theory of Justice or Political Liberalism. Part of the explanation is that many of the rights Rawls is committed to defending – including those to which he assigns a certain priority as “basic” rights – are often referred to simply as “liberties” (for which there are rather elaborate index entries). Consequently, his views about rights are often expressed obliquely, typically through the accounts he gives of the practical implications (for the shaping of institutions and practices) of the principles of “justice as fairness.” Thus, most of the rights he regards as “basic” are identified and described when he itemizes the liberties protected by the equal liberty principle. “The basic liberties of citizens are, roughly speaking, political liberty (the right to vote and to be eligible for public office) together with freedom of speech and assembly; liberty of conscience and freedom of thought; freedom of the person along with the right to hold (personal) property; and freedom from arbitrary arrest and seizure as defined by the concept of the rule of law” (TJ 61). Other rights are linked to the opportunities secured under the auspices of the fair equality of opportunity principle, including (notably) rights to equality of educational and occupational opportunity. “(F)air equality of opportunity means a certain set of institutions that assures similar chances of education and culture for persons similarly motivated and keeps positions and offices open to all on the basis of qualities and efforts reasonably related to the relevant duties and tasks” (TJ 278, 83–90).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Rawls Lexicon , pp. 731 - 736Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014