Original scientific paper

Rawls on a mountain?

Zoran Kurelić ; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

The author describes the communitarian critique of Rawls, mostly that by Michael Walzer in the book "Spheres of Justice". The main communitarian objection to Rawls' theory of justice is that it is objectivistic and thus a modern variant of Platonism. Contrary to this attitude, Walzer insists on the theory of justice which takes as its starting point particular values of a society or culture, and tries to formulate a critique of the American society as a community subject to "market imperialism". The response by Rawls and other liberals to the communitarian critique has proved that this theory is neither Platonic, transcedentally Kantian nor abstractly objectivistic. Rawls and liberals are aware that their principles of justice have come into being within a specific European tradition of democratic constitutionalism, but that those principles aspire towards achieving universality, at least in those communities that are willing to accept a democratic constitutional system.

Keywords

Hrčak ID:

111021

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/111021

Publication date:

1.6.1994.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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