Rawls and Sandel

Beyond the Text: The Intellectual Historian's Podcast

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In this episode of Beyond the Text, Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson take a deep dive into the thought of John Rawls, exploring his major contribution to liberal political philosophy and the critiques it provoked from both libertarian and communitarian perspectives.

We begin with A Theory of Justice (1971), where Rawls develops his influential idea of "justice as fairness"—a theory grounded in the principles of liberty and equality, structured around the thought experiments of the "original position" and the "veil of ignorance." Rawls offers a bold moral argument for a redistributive welfare state, aiming to reconcile freedom with social cooperation.

We then explore the key critiques of Rawls. Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974) challenges Rawls from the right, defending a minimal state based on property rights and voluntary exchange. On the other side, Michael Sandel offers a communitarian response, questioning Rawls' abstract model of the individual and pushing back against the idea that justice can be detached from cultural and moral context.

Together, we trace the philosophical rifts between egalitarianism, libertarianism, and communitarianism—and reflect on how these debates remain vital for understanding justice, power, and the limits of liberalism today.

📚 Recommended Reading:

• John Rawls, A Theory of Justice
• Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia
• Michael Sandel, Liberalism and the Limits of Justice

🎙 Hosted by: Samuel Woodall & Jack Thomson
🎧 Podcast: Beyond the Text

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