Biography of john
rawls
Prepared by: Group 2
John rawls
- was an eminent American philosopher, who
made remarkable contributions to the fields of
moral and political philosophy. Rawls is best
known for his highly praised and widely
discussed book, ‘A Theory of Justice’, which is
globally regarded as the most significant work in
political philosophy. His work and theories in
political philosophy have given birth to the
school of thought named Rawlsianism.
John Rawls was born on February 21, 1921, in Baltimore, Maryland,
to parents William Lee Rawls and Anna Abell Stump Rawls. He
belonged to an affluent family, his father worked as a solicitor. John
attended a local school in Baltimore for his early education, and
later, he attended the Kent School in Connecticut. In 1939, he was
accepted at Princeton University. In 1943, John received his degree
of Bachelor’s in Arts, and enrolled in the United States Army to fight
against the German forces during the World War II, he left the army
upon beholding the horrific events of the Hiroshima bombing.
After leaving the army, in 1946, John resumed his studies at the Princeton
University, and received his Ph.D. in moral philosophy. In 1950, he published
his doctoral thesis, titled ‘A Study in the Grounds of Ethical Knowledge:
Considered with Reference to Judgments on the Moral Worth of Character’.
The same year, he began teaching at the Princeton University. In 1951, he
published an article in the Cornell University journal Philosophical Review,
titled ‘Outline of a Decision Procedure for Ethics’. Later, he published ‘Justice
as Fairness’ and ‘The Sense of Justice’ in the same magazine.
In 1952, John received the Fulbright
Fellowship to Oxford University. He returned
to America a year later, and accepted the
position of assistant professor at the Cornell
University, later he rose to the post of
associate professor. Over the course of the
next ten years, John became a full-time
professor at Cornell University, in addition to
a tenured position at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. However, he chose
to accept a teaching position at Harvard
University.
In 1963, he was commissioned by the American
Society for Political and Legal Philosophy to
write a chapter for their Yearbook, ‘Nomos, VI:
Justice’, John authored ‘Constitutional Liberty
and the Concept of Justice’. In 1967, he
contributed a chapter, titled ‘Distributive
Justice’, for Laslett and Runciman’s book, titled
‘Philosophy, Politics and Society’. The next
year, he published his widely read and applauded
article, titled ‘Distributive Justice: Some
Addenda’. In 1971, he published his magnum
opus, his most significant contribution to the
field of ethics and political philosophy, titled ‘A
Theory of Justice’.
In 1974, John published his highly acclaimed article in
the Quarterly Journal of Economics, titled ‘Reply to Alexander and
Musgrave’. The same year, he authored another praise-worthy
article in the American Economic Review, titled ‘Some Reasons for
the Maximin Criterion’. In 1993, he published a revised version of
his earlier work, ‘A Theory of Justice’ as ‘Political Liberalism’.
Later that year, he also published an inspiring article in Critical
Inquiry, titled ‘The Law of the Peoples’. In 2001, John Rawls
decided to address the criticism garnered by his work in ‘A Theory
of Justice’, as a response to the critics of his work, he
published ‘Justice as Fairness: A Restatement’.
John Rawls has been applauded and celebrated
for his contributions to ethical and political
philosophy. In 1999, he was the recipient of the
Rolf Schock Prize for his contributions to the
field of ‘Logic and Philosophy’, and the same
year, he was also awarded the National
Humanities Medal. In 1995, John suffered a
series of severe strokes, which rendered him
unable to work. He passed away on November
24, 2002, in Lexington, Massachusetts, at the age
of 81.
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