New Releases by John Rawls

Few aspects of American military history have been as vigorously debated as Harry Truman''s decision to use atomic bombs against Japan. In this carefully crafted volume, Michael Kort describes the wartime circumstances and thinking that form the context for the decision to use these weapons, surveys the major debates related to that decision, and provides a comprehensive collection of key primary source documents that illuminate the behavior of the United States and Japan during the closing days of World War II. Kort opens with a summary of the debate over Hiroshima as it has evolved since 1945. He then provides a historical overview of thye events in question, beginning with the decision and program to build the atomic bomb. Detailing the sequence of events leading to Japan''s surrender, he revisits the decisive battles of the Pacific War and the motivations of American and Japanese leaders. Finally, Kort examines ten key issues in the discussion of Hiroshima and guides readers to relevant primary source documents, scholarly books, and articles.

Apresenta palestras proferidas, durante os anos 80, em um curso de filosofia política abrangendo o estudo das obras de teóricos historicamente importantes (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Mill e Marx) e expondo, também, os elementos fundamentais das idéias do autor.

This book originated as lectures for a course on political philosophy that Rawls taught regularly at Harvard in the 1980s. In time the lectures became a restatement of his theory of justice as fairness, revised in light of his more recent papers and his treatise Political Liberalism (1993). As Rawls writes in the preface, the restatement presents "in one place an account of justice as fairness as I now see it, drawing on all [my previous] works." He offers a broad overview of his main lines of thought and also explores specific issues never before addressed in any of his writings. Rawls is well aware that since the publication of A Theory of Justice in 1971, American society has moved farther away from the idea of justice as fairness. Yet his ideas retain their power and relevance to debates in a pluralistic society about the meaning and theoretical viability of liberalism. This book demonstrates that moral clarity can be achieved even when a collective commitment to justice is uncertain.

John Rawls’s work on justice has drawn more commentary and aroused wider attention than any other work in moral or political philosophy in the twentieth century. Rawls is the author of two major treatises, A Theory of Justice (1971) and Political Liberalism (1993); it is said that A Theory of Justice revived political philosophy in the English-speaking world. But before and after writing his great treatises Rawls produced a steady stream of essays. Some of these essays articulate views of justice and liberalism distinct from those found in the two books. They are important in and of themselves because of the deep issues about the nature of justice, moral reasoning, and liberalism they raise as well as for the light they shed on the evolution of Rawls’s views. Some of the articles tackle issues not addressed in either book. They help identify some of the paths open to liberal theorists of justice and some of the knotty problems which liberal theorists must seek to resolve. A complete collection of John Rawls’s essays is long overdue.

Este libro esta dividido en dos partes. La revision de "La idea de razon publica," publicada en 1997, supone una minuciosa reelaboracion de un texto mucho mas breve que el autor presento por primera vez cuatro anos antes, en 1993, y es la culminacion de sus ideas sobre el liberalismo en su relacion con algunos de los problemas mas acuciantes de nuestro tiempo. En su version definitiva, el articulo en cuestion expone el modo en que las limitaciones de la razon publica pueden explicarse debidamente atendiendo a conceptos tanto religiosos como no religiosos. Se trata de un detallado relato acerca de las modernas democracias constitucionales, basadas en una concepcion politica liberal, y su aceptacion por parte de ciertos ciudadanos que no tolerarian doctrinas de ese tipo en campos como la religion, la filosofia o la moral. "El derecho de gentes," por su parte, parte de la idea del contrato social y establece los principios generales que pueden y deben ser aceptados por sociedades tanto liberales como no liberales como norma general para sus interrelaciones. En concreto, el texto traza una distincion crucial entre los derechos humanos basicos y los derechos de los ciudadanos de una democracia liberal y constitucional. Tambien explora los terminos segun los cuales una sociedad de este tipo puede declarar "justamente" la guerra a otra que no se atenga a esos principios y, en fin, debate los presupuestos morales adecuados que pueden servir como base para prestar ayuda a ciertas sociedades no liberales sometidas a condiciones politicas y economicas claramente desfavorables.

Esta obra propõe um itinerário para a descoberta e fundamentação racional dos princípios que devem reger a sociedade justa, os quais John Rawls considera que se adequam às convicções intuitivas sobre justiça. A sua argumentação situa-se na confluência de duas correntes culturais distintas - a do utilitarismo e as teorias do contrato social - na linha de Rousseau e de Kant - e visa criticar a primeira corrente, embora sem recusar o seu conteúdo metodológico.

LIBÉRALISME Politique est le manifeste d''une philosophie politique et morale qui cherche à concilier les deux termes antagonistes de la modernité : la liberté des individus et la nécessité de leur coopération équitable au sein des institutions politiques. Dans ce livre qui fait suite à la Théorie de la justice - ouvrage dont le retentissement fut immense -, John Rawls renouvelle profondément le sens et la portée de sa conception de la justice à la lumière de ce qu''il appelle " le fait du pluralisme ". L''existence avérée d''une pluralité de convictions raisonnables mais incompatibles, en laquelle l''auteur reconnaît la donnée la plus problématique des sociétés contemporaines, ne remet pas en cause l''existence d''une société bien ordonnée. Mais celle-ci doit être conçue comme une société unifiée non par ses convictions morales, mais par sa conception politique de la justice, source d''un consensus qui ne se réduit pas à un simple modus vivendi. La divergence des idéaux moraux et des horizons culturels n''empêche pas la reconnaissance et l''acceptation des mêmes principes de justice et l''exercice d''une raison publique commune. Libéralisme politique s''inscrit dans la tradition de défense du principe de tolérance et des libertés fondamentales.

Apresenta duas partes: A Idéia da Razão Pública Revista que descreve, detalhadamente, como uma democracia constitucional moderna poderia ser vista como legítima por cidadãos que não aceitam uma doutrina abrangente liberal. Na segunda, O Direito dos Povos, lança os princípios gerais que podem e devem ser aceitos por sociedade liberais e não liberais como padrão para regulamentar a conduta recíproca.

附:公共理性观念新论

The premier political philosopher of his day, John Rawls, in three decades of teaching at Harvard, has had a profound influence on the way philosophical ethics is approached and understood today. This book brings together the lectures that inspired a generation of students--and a regeneration of moral philosophy. It invites readers to learn from the most noted exemplars of modern moral philosophy with the inspired guidance of one of contemporary philosophy''s most noteworthy practitioners and teachers. Central to Rawls''s approach is the idea that respectful attention to the great texts of our tradition can lead to a fruitful exchange of ideas across the centuries. In this spirit, his book engages thinkers such as Leibniz, Hume, Kant, and Hegel as they struggle in brilliant and instructive ways to define the role of a moral conception in human life. The lectures delineate four basic types of moral reasoning: perfectionism, utilitarianism, intuitionism, and--the ultimate focus of Rawls''s course--Kantian constructivism. Comprising a superb course on the history of moral philosophy, they also afford unique insight into how John Rawls has transformed our view of this history.

Les sociétés contemporaines sont pluralistes, elles doivent réussir à faire vivre ensemble des cultures ou des groupes très divers. Comment concevoir un consensus démocratique qui reste respectueux de cette diversité sans être pour autant une simple rencontre d''intérêts divergents ? Quelle base morale commune faut-il pour que s''édifie et s''entretienne la confiance dans la justice des institutions ? Le célèbre auteur du monumental Théorie de la justice (Seuil, 1987) considéré comme la charte philosophique de la démocratie libérale, approfondit ici sa réflexion dans le sens d''une conception politique de la société multiculturelle.

As sociedades contemporâneas são pluralistas e devem permitir a convivência de culturas ou grupos diversos. Como conceber um consenso democrático que respeite essa diversidade sem ser um simples encontro de interesses divergentes? Que base moral comum será necessária para que a confiança na justiça das instituições seja construída e mantida? Essas questões de atualidade, na encruzilhada da filosofia moral e da teoria política, são tratadas por John Rawls nos artigos que ele escreveu entre 1978 e 1989. A perspectiva universalista e racionalista que ele propusera no seu livro ''Uma Teoria da Justiça'' (1971) é aqui duplamente aprimorada. Rawls subordina o ''racional'' ao ''razoável'' tanto na concepção da pessoa quanto na dos ''bens primários'' que uma sociedade justa deve assegurar aos seus membros.

Summary Table of Contents: Moral Inquiry, Moral Theories and Applications, Moral Issues.

En este libro se recogen los textos del debate entre dos de los mas grandes filosofos contemporaneos, John Rawls y Jurgen Habermas. A pesar de provenir de tradiciones filosoficas distintas, ambos tienen en comun el ser los mas relevantes representantes del discurso ilustrado en filosofia moral y politica contemporanea; y ambos convergen tambien en una fundamentacion de una teoria de la justicia que se apoya en una reconstruccion procedimental de sus presupuestos kantianos. Planteada la cuestion, pues, como un debate de familia, la critica de Habermas al liberalismo politico de Rawls, asi como la replica de este ultimo, sirven para sacar a la luz las muchas diferencias que aun subsisten entre ambos. El enfoque habermasiano se vincula a un mayor compromiso con la democracia y las virtudes republicanas de la participacion politica; el del ultimo Rawls, por su parte, insiste en su promocion de la justicia social, y subraya sobre todo el problema de disenar una teoria politica en la que puedan reconocerse todas las concepciones filosoficas, politicas y morales que hacen acto de presencia en las sociedades pluralistas de nuestros dias.

Die "Theorie der Gerechtigkeit" ist der wichtigste Beitrag des englischen Sprachraums, vielleicht sogar der wichtigste Beitrag zur Politischen Ethik des 20. Jahrhunderts uberhaupt. John Rawls entwirft hier nicht nur eine weithin uberzeugende Theorie zur Schnittmenge von Ethik und Politischer Philosophie. Ihm gelingt es daruber hinaus, in der philosophischen Debatte eine Reihe von grundlegenden Paradigmenwechseln vorzunehmen. Nach einer Generation intensiver Diskussion ist der Zeitpunkt gekommen, Bilanz zu ziehen. Das geschieht nicht als rein deskriptiver Uberblick uber die bisherige Debatte, sondern in Form eines kooperativen Kommentars. Autoren unterschiedlicher philosophischer Herkunft stellen sich die Frage, wie Rawls Gedanken zu verstehen sind und welche Tragweite, welche Uberzeugungskraft sie fur den kunftigen Diskurs haben."