What is Rawls ‘A Theory of Justice’

By Olivia Nichols

A Theory of Justice’, or in other words the basis of any jurisprudence course at university. Indeed this month we will be learning about John Rawls ‘A Theory of Justice’.

Who is Rawls?

Rawls is an American liberalist philosopher who advocates for equality of rights and freedom. He was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland and was the son to a successful lawyer and the president of the league of womens voters. Rawls attended university at both Princeton and Cornell and later went to work at the university of Oxford with HLA Hart along with many other acclaimed authors and lawyers.

The particular section I will be discussing today is the first section of the book, labelled ‘theory’. In this section Rawls sets the basis of justice, and this section includes the first 3 chapters of the book.

John Rawls ideas

The most profound idea Rawls presents is the theory of original position which is discussed further in chapter 3. This idea is as follows: if everybody was at a state of prelife, unknowing the life they will be born into, the basic rights and freedoms they would want guaranteed are the same rights and freedom which should exists within society. The right to a fair trial, the right to life and so forth, these are not subjective but instead a requirement.

In my opinion the original position is a mechanism to give upper class white men compassion for those with nothing. ‘The veil of ignorance’ is just the same as saying ‘put yourself in their shoes’ but nonetheless is serves its purpose which is to provide an alternative viewpoint for the powerful people to understand that there are millions without the same rights as them.

I think personally ‘Theory’ establishes the duty which is owed to the people by the state. And I think this has a lot more to do with law than meets the eye. The law serves the people, the law has a duty onto them. The fairness of the law, its inclusiveness are all aspects which are not negotiable.

Should you read ‘A Theory of Justice’?

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone fascinated by jurisprudence, it does well at making you question everything you thought about justice and it is truly thought provoking and an interesting read

Happy reading!

Kind regards,

Olivia.

Sources:

• Rawls J. (1971) A Theory Of Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (accessed: 4th July 2026)

  
  

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.(2025) ‘John Rawls’, Stanford encyclopaedia of philosophy. Available at :https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rawls/ (accessed 10/08/26)