The Right and the Good in John Rawls’s Theory of Justice

This workshop event is a hybrid event held on Zoom, and in-person at Future Africa by the Department of Philosophy at the University of Pretoria in South Africa on 4 October 2022.

Rawls in A Theory of Justice (1999, 21) states: “The two main concepts of ethics are those of the right and the good; the concept of a morally worthy person is, I believe, derived from them. The structure of an ethical theory is, then, largely determined by how it defines and connects these two basic notions”. The priority of the right is a position that Rawls defended throughout his work. In Political Liberalism Rawls in response to critics, unpacks this priority relation, and places emphasis on the complementary nature of the right and the good. The aim of this workshop is to explore the complex relationship Rawls develops between the right and the good in his theory of justice and the various implications of this relation for Rawlsian scholarship in particular, and liberal theory in general.  

We welcome submissions of abstracts of at most 500 words. The deadline for abstract submissions has been extended to 5 September. Notification of acceptance will be sent by 7 September 2022. 

We welcome submissions from graduate students. 

Please submit the title and abstract via the following link: https://forms.gle/YwuNLWidhNZmp1kT9

Questions can be directed to [email protected]