Key Arguments

• He explicitly states the main idea: 'With these remarks as a preface, we can now see how the principles of justice are related to human sociability. The main idea is simply that a well-ordered society (corresponding to justice as fairness) is itself a form of social union. Indeed, it is a social union of social unions.'
• He identifies the two characteristic features: 'Both characteristic features are present: the successful carrying out of just institutions is the shared final end of all the members of society, and these institutional forms are prized as good in themselves.'
• He explains the first feature by analogy with games: 'The first is quite straightforward. In much the same way that players have the shared end to execute a good and fair play of the game, so the members of a well-ordered society have the common aim of cooperating together to realize their own and another’s nature in ways allowed by the principles of justice.'
• He grounds this shared aim in citizens’ sense of justice: 'This collective intention is the consequence of everyone’s having an effective sense of justice. Each citizen wants everyone (including himself) to act from principles to which all would agree in an initial situation of equality.'
• He notes that 'This desire is regulative, as the condition of finality on moral principles requires,' indicating that the shared end of just cooperation governs citizens’ reasoning about what to do.
• Given his earlier definition of social union—shared final ends, common activities valued for themselves, complementary individual goods—this shows that the just basic structure itself becomes an object of common, intrinsic valuation and a locus of community.

Source Quotes

A well-ordered society, and indeed most societies, will presumably contain countless social unions of many different kinds. With these remarks as a preface, we can now see how the principles of justice are related to human sociability. The main idea is simply that a well-ordered society (corresponding to justice as fairness) is itself a form of social union.

With these remarks as a preface, we can now see how the principles of justice are related to human sociability. The main idea is simply that a well-ordered society (corresponding to justice as fairness) is itself a form of social union. Indeed, it is a social union of social unions. Both characteristic features are present: the successful carrying out of just institutions is the shared final end of all the members of society, and these institutional forms are prized as good in themselves.

Indeed, it is a social union of social unions. Both characteristic features are present: the successful carrying out of just institutions is the shared final end of all the members of society, and these institutional forms are prized as good in themselves. Let us consider these features in turn.

The first is quite straightforward. In much the same way that players have the shared end to execute a good and fair play of the game, so the members of a well-ordered society have the common aim of cooperating together to realize their own and another’s nature in ways allowed by the principles of justice. This collective intention is the consequence of everyone’s having an effective sense of justice.

In much the same way that players have the shared end to execute a good and fair play of the game, so the members of a well-ordered society have the common aim of cooperating together to realize their own and another’s nature in ways allowed by the principles of justice. This collective intention is the consequence of everyone’s having an effective sense of justice. Each citizen wants everyone (including himself) to act from principles to which all would agree in an initial situation of equality.

This collective intention is the consequence of everyone’s having an effective sense of justice. Each citizen wants everyone (including himself) to act from principles to which all would agree in an initial situation of equality. This desire is regulative, as the condition of finality on moral principles requires; and when everyone acts justly, all find

Each citizen wants everyone (including himself) to act from principles to which all would agree in an initial situation of equality. This desire is regulative, as the condition of finality on moral principles requires; and when everyone acts justly, all find

Key Concepts

• With these remarks as a preface, we can now see how the principles of justice are related to human sociability.
• The main idea is simply that a well-ordered society (corresponding to justice as fairness) is itself a form of social union. Indeed, it is a social union of social unions.
• Both characteristic features are present: the successful carrying out of just institutions is the shared final end of all the members of society, and these institutional forms are prized as good in themselves.
• In much the same way that players have the shared end to execute a good and fair play of the game, so the members of a well-ordered society have the common aim of cooperating together to realize their own and another’s nature in ways allowed by the principles of justice.
• This collective intention is the consequence of everyone’s having an effective sense of justice.
• Each citizen wants everyone (including himself) to act from principles to which all would agree in an initial situation of equality.
• This desire is regulative, as the condition of finality on moral principles requires;

Context

Closing portion of the provided passage in §79, where Rawls applies his earlier analysis of social union and games directly to the idea of a well‑ordered society under justice as fairness.