The Original Position

This volume explores and analyses the continued relevance and ramifications of the original position, the central idea of John Rawls's political philosophy.

Timothy Hinton (Edited by)

9781107627512, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 December 2015

292 pages, 2 tables
24.6 x 17.4 x 1.4 cm, 0.58 kg

'Although the original position argument became famous over forty years ago, it's testimony to John Rawls's immense creativity is that an accurate assessment of its strengths and weaknesses is still emerging. Tim Hinton's collection of lucid and thought-provoking essays will play an invaluable role in this welcome process, and also casts new light on work by several of the leading philosophers who have engaged with the argument, including G. A. Cohen, Ronald Dworkin, and T. M. Scanlon. The volume could be read with profit by specialists and students alike.' Andrew Williams, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies and Universitat Pompeu Fabra

At the centre of John Rawls's political philosophy is one of the most influential thought experiments of the twentieth century: which principles of justice would a group of individuals choose to regulate their society if they were deprived of any information about themselves that might bias their choice? In this collection of new essays, leading political philosophers examine the ramifications and continued relevance of Rawls's idea. Their chapters explore topics including the place of the original position in rational choice theory, the similarities between Rawls's original position and Kant's categorical imperative, the differences between Rawls's model and Scanlon's contractualism, and the role of the original position in the argument between Rawls and other views in political philosophy, including utilitarianism, feminism, and radicalism. This accessible volume will be a valuable resource for undergraduates, as well as advanced students and scholars of philosophy, game theory, economics, and the social and political sciences.

List of abbreviations
Introduction: the original position and The Original Position – an overview Timothy Hinton
1. Justice as fairness, utilitarianism, and mixed conceptions David O. Brink
2. Rational choice and the original position: the (many) models of Rawls and Harsanyi Gerald Gaus and John Thrasher
3. The strains of commitment Jeremy Waldron
4. Our talents, our histories, ourselves: Nozick on the original position argument John Christman
5. Rawls and Dworkin on hypothetical reasoning Matthew Clayton
6. Feminist receptions of the original position Amy R. Baehr
7. G. A. Cohen's critique of the original position David Estlund
8. Liberals, radicals, and the original position Timothy Hinton
9. The original position and Scanlon's contractualism Joshua Cohen
10. The 'Kantian roots' of the original position Andrews Reath
11. Stability and the original position from Theory to Political Liberalism Paul Weithman
12. The original position in the law of peoples Gillian Brock
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], Social & political philosophy [HPS]