Hegel’s influence on the work and thinking of John Rawls

Abstract

The intention of this paper is to demonstrate how the Berlin philosopher influenced the development of Rawls’ theory of political justice. Following a theory of Justice (1971), given the attention the Harvard professor paid to what the critics had to say and to his revision of the book, scholars of his work are practically unanimous in that there is a change in the approach to his doctrine of justice as fairness. With Kantian Constructivism in Mo- ral theory (1980), a more pragmatic and less universalistic twist begins to emerge, one that is demonstrated more solidly in Political liberalism (1993), sparking talk of a "second Rawls". in lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy, published posthumously, Rawls comments primarily on Hegel’s Philosophy of law (Philosophie des Rechts der grundlinien Naturre- chtundStaatswissenschaft ), revealing a concurrence or harmony between both these thinkers with respect to the study of social reality, their anti- dualist tendency and their vision of classical liberalism, although Rawls did not abandon contractualism. Brief reference also is made to the influence of Hume and dewey, which serves to round out the group of modern thinkers who influenced Rawlsian theory, both in form and substance.