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He asked what principles of justice you would choose if you didn't know who you'd be. The answer was more radical than anyone expected.
She argues that a just society must ask not only who has how much, but what people can actually do and be.
Connection
Ideas
Words
“Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought.”
“Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override.”
“Emotions are not just the fuel that powers the psychological mechanism of a reasoning creature, they are parts, highly complex and messy parts, of this creature's reasoning itself.”
“To be a good human being is to have a kind of openness to the world — an ability to trust uncertain things beyond your own control.”
Key Moments
1950
Princeton doctorate and early career
1971
A Theory of Justice reshapes political philosophy
1986 CE
The Fragility of Goodness
1995
Chicago appointment and the capabilities approach
Works
A Theory of Justice
The Fragility of Goodness