Theories of Justice from Aristotle to Rawls
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Wilhelm Vossenkuhl, Ludwig Maximilians Universitaet
The course offers an introduction into two of the most prominent and important authors on justice, Aristotle and Rawls. Both authors still play a major role in contemporary discussions on justice, and both authors have a lot to tell towards the problems of justice we know of today and their respective solutions.
While Aristotle describes ‚justice’ as a virtue, and, indeed, a primary virtue containing almost all other virtues, Rawls concentrates on distributive justice as a virtue of political institutions in democratic societies. The theoretical contexts of both theories are different both conceptually and historically. Aristotle integrates his ideas of justice into a notion of the Good, and of good life. Rawls integrates his theory of justice into a theory of rationality. While Aristotle competes with Plato, Rawls competes with Utilitarianism, Consequentialism, and almost all other theories of rationality we know of.
Some of the major secondary sources on Aristotle and Rawls will be discussed, including chapters of books by Martha Nussbaum, David Wiggins, Thomas Pogge, and Onora O’Neill. The aim of the course is to get acquainted with the respective theories, to get enough tuition and training to enable each participant to make up one’s own mind about the relevant authors and their arguments. Students are asked to concentrate in their expositions of texts on the relevant argumentations. Understanding and developing arguments is one of the major aims ot the course.
The type of tuition and training is twofold. Each student is asked to prepare at least four oral accounts for the weekly topics and again four short essays. The subjects of the essays may but must not coincide with the oral contributions. The essays will be discussed in tutorials, which are offered individually. Both, the oral performances and the essays will be marked. These marks will ad up to the final grade. There will be no final exam.
While Aristotle describes ‚justice’ as a virtue, and, indeed, a primary virtue containing almost all other virtues, Rawls concentrates on distributive justice as a virtue of political institutions in democratic societies. The theoretical contexts of both theories are different both conceptually and historically. Aristotle integrates his ideas of justice into a notion of the Good, and of good life. Rawls integrates his theory of justice into a theory of rationality. While Aristotle competes with Plato, Rawls competes with Utilitarianism, Consequentialism, and almost all other theories of rationality we know of.
Some of the major secondary sources on Aristotle and Rawls will be discussed, including chapters of books by Martha Nussbaum, David Wiggins, Thomas Pogge, and Onora O’Neill. The aim of the course is to get acquainted with the respective theories, to get enough tuition and training to enable each participant to make up one’s own mind about the relevant authors and their arguments. Students are asked to concentrate in their expositions of texts on the relevant argumentations. Understanding and developing arguments is one of the major aims ot the course.
The type of tuition and training is twofold. Each student is asked to prepare at least four oral accounts for the weekly topics and again four short essays. The subjects of the essays may but must not coincide with the oral contributions. The essays will be discussed in tutorials, which are offered individually. Both, the oral performances and the essays will be marked. These marks will ad up to the final grade. There will be no final exam.
