Revisiting Rawls:A Theory of Justice in the light of Levi's theory of decision

Theoria 70 (1):3-21 (2004)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The present paper revisits the issue of rational decision making in John Rawls' original position. Drawing on Isaac Levi's theory of decision, I discuss how we can defend Rawls against John C. Harsanyi's charge that maximin reasoning in the original position is irrational. The discussion suggests that systematic application of Levi's theory is likely to have important consequences for ethics and political theory as well as for public policy.

Categories

Keywords

Reprint years

2008

DOI

10.1111/j.1755-2567.2004.tb00977.x

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 92,991

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

My notes

Similar books and articles

A Defense of the Maximin Principle in Rawls' Theory of Justice.Robert C. Robinson - 2009 - Humanity and Social Science Journal 4 (2):175-179.
Minimizing maximin.D. Clayton Hubin - 1980 - Philosophical Studies 37 (4):363 - 372.
The Original Position and the Rationality of Levi's Shame.Josep E. Corbi - 2016 - Bollettino Filosofico 31:323-340.
On the Rational Acceptance of Scientific Theories: An Attempt to Extend Isaac Levi's Cognitive Decision Theory to the Acceptance of Scientific Theories.Ruth Harriet Lucow - 1978 - Dissertation, Case Western Reserve University
The Rawls–Harsanyi Dispute: A Moral Point of View.Michael Moehler - 2018 - Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 99 (1):82-99.
Original position arguments and social choice under ignorance.Thijs De Coninck & Frederik Van De Putte - 2022 - Theory and Decision 94 (2):275-298.
Decision-Theoretic Analysis of Rawls' Original Position.Leon Ellsworth - 1978 - In A. Hooker, J. J. Leach & E. F. McClennen (eds.), Foundations and Applications of Decision Theory. D. Reidel. pp. 29--45.
A theory of justice?Philip Pettit - 1974 - Theory and Decision 4 (3-4):311-324.
On The Descriptive Adequacy of Levi's Decision Theory.Patrick Maher & Yoshihisa Kashima - 1991 - Economics and Philosophy 7 (1):93-100.
Methodenfragen der Gerechtigkeitstheorie. Überlegungen im Anschluß an Tugendhats "Comments on some Methodological Aspects of Rawls' 'Theory of Justice'".Arend Kulenkampff - 1979 - Analyse & Kritik 1 (1):90-104.

Analytics

Added to PP
2010-09-13

Downloads
133 (#141,573)

6 months
13 (#220,039)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Erik Angner
Stockholm University

Citations of this work

The Rawls–Harsanyi Dispute: A Moral Point of View.Michael Moehler - 2018 - Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 99 (1):82-99.
Probability in ethics.David McCarthy - 2016 - In Alan Hájek & Christopher Hitchcock (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Probability and Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 705–737.
Non-probabilistic Decision Strategies Behind the Veil.Mona Simion - 2016 - Journal of Value Inquiry 50 (3):557-572.

Add more citations

References found in this work

A Theory of Justice: Revised Edition.John Rawls - 1999 - Harvard University Press.
Contractualism and utilitarianism.Thomas M. Scanlon - 1982 - In Amartya Kumar Sen & Bernard Arthur Owen Williams (eds.), Utilitarianism and Beyond. Cambridge University Press. pp. 103--128.

View all 15 references / Add more references