Liberalism and the Limits of Justice

Michael Sandel's Liberalism and the Limits of Justice is an argument against Classical Liberalism, at least as Classical Liberalism is expressed in the political philosophy of John Rawls. Rawls, in his book A Theory of Justice, argued that the role of government is social justice. He defended the view that there are certain basic freedoms that everyone should respect regardless of the person and that cannot be violated. He also claimed that any social inequality that arises should be allowed provided the society and the government helps to make the poorest and the least advantage better off, and this is to be a constant challenge for any government.Sandel challenges Rawls's position on the grounds that Rawls's theory of justice implies too limited a view of human nature and the self. According to Sandel, Rawls's theory conceives of persons apart from the societies in which they grow up and the other aspects that in ordinary life would normally form their identity. Sandel thinks that if we are to consider questions of justice, among other sorts of values, we have to take seriously a view of persons that includes their social milieus and that aims at some view of what a good life would be like for them.I won't get into it here, but I think Sandel actually mischaracterizes Rawls' position, and is in some sense arguing at cross purposes. But that is another discussion and I'll leave it for readers familiar with Rawls to decide that.

This is a well written essay about Rawls argument, as we see in A Theory of Justice and Political Liberalism. Sandel exposes Rawls conception of justice as fairness and presents its alleged disadvantages. The author challenges the priority of the right from the good. Deliberation in public square, it seems, can't occur without a closest examination of the differents conceptions of the good. Liberalism and its goal of neutrality about the many ideas of good life, Sandel argues, is not a possible enterprise. This is a subject that requires further reflection. Pluralism is an essential feature of democratics societies. Pluralism requires more than tolerance about the diverses conceptions of the good. We must organize the basic structure of society in order to allow the cultivation and nourishment of diverses ideas of good life.

difficult read

A dense but not a difficult read, Sandel's Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (LLJ) is a useful introduction to political and moral reasoning. The primary purpose of the book is to bring to the forefront the fundamental weaknesses of the liberalist position as according to Rawls, which LLJ succeeds in doing. The book is, however, not a full-on frontal assault on Rawlsian Liberalism, but a thought provoking challenge to its assumptions and logical inconsistencies. Particularly enguaging is the discussion of the notion of Personhood and how Rawls wavers on his application of that concept to his concept of Justice.