A Theory of Justice

By John Rawls

This dialogic book will teach you to reason about justice with philosophical precision. You will learn to step behind the veil of ignorance, construct principles that no one could reasonably reject, and evaluate any social arrangement by asking whether it serves those who have the least.

Healthcare access, wealth concentration, educational opportunity. We argue about fairness constantly but rarely with rigor. Rawls wrote A Theory of Justice in the turbulent America of the 1960s, offering a framework that cuts through partisan noise. By reconstructing his argument from the original position, you will build principles for judging what fairness actually demands in any society.