Free and Equal

London School of Economics professor Daniel Chandler considers the works of philosopher John Rawls, positing that Rawls’s precepts inform today’s socioeconomic debates and policies. Rawls describes the basis for a coherent, systematic alternative to neoliberal free market economics, one whose foundation is reciprocity and solidarity, not utility.

John Rawls

Many regard John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice, published in 1971, as the most influential book in modern political philosophy. In that text, Rawls critiques the concept of utilitarianism — the notion that a society should work to ensure that the greatest number of people possible enjoy a commonly accepted level of well-being — and proposes an equally systematic alternative. He aimed to establish principles of fairness, and the tenets he developed gained extensive approval and acclaim.