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John Rawls The Law Of Peoples Summary

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J RAWLS, The Laws of Peoples-with the Idea of Public Reason Revisited, Harvard University Press: USA, 1999.

John Rawls was an influential political philosopher and his publications are widely read. One of which is the Law of Peoples published in 1993 which is the subject of my study. In the Law of Peoples Rawls concerns of the general principles whereby one can uphold and be accept by the liberal people as well as the non-liberal society. “This principle is a standard for which can be useful in regulating the behavior of the citizens towards one and other.” The liberal people have a just constitutional democracy government that serves their basic interests. This means the government is under the effective control of their political and …show more content…

“When the Law of Peoples are honored by people with the intention to comply, these people draw mutual confidence and trust in each other. In the course of time they see as an ideal conduct.” The principle of toleration is also considered in the Law of Peoples when in the domestic case the plurality of actual and possible reasonable comprehensive conception of good is tolerated. The ideal theory concerns principles of governing all liberal peoples and it requires the plurality of liberalism be tolerated. But this principle of toleration is extended beyond liberalism and opens to non-liberal people. “There are ways of ordering society that are decent and to be tolerated. A decent but non-liberal way of societal ordering is referred to as a decent hierarchical …show more content…

The non-ideal is where the regime refuses to comply with the law of peoples. Law of people allow for self-defense to safeguard and protect when the human rights are violated. The Law of Peoples stipulates principles that are to govern the relationships between peoples. At the center of the theoretical position, is the public reason which cleanse or purifies taint of controversial issues and provide a way for the attainment of peace. “The public reason specifies basic moral and political values to determine a constitutional democratic government relation to the citizens.” In other words it is meant to say that it concerns how the political relation is to be understood. However those who reject constitutional democracy will also reject the idea of public reason because for them it is a relation of friend or foe to some particular group. The law of people is concerned with the well-being of individual. It is the justice and stability for the right reason of decent and liberal society, living as members of a society of well-ordered peoples. It is to reduce inequalities and promote justice among peoples and states in its international relations and practice that the final end of peace may be

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America is a country whose ideals are based on freedom and democracy. However these ideas are not original, in fact many of the common ideas found in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence resemble the writings of people in the past. Even early documents pivotal to American independence such as Common Sense by Thomas Paine and the Virginia Declaration of Independence can be traced down to these early documents. The age of enlightenment brought several philosophers with new ideas, such as John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. The works of these men helped to inspire a new way of thinking, towards freedom and democracy, the founding fathers embraced these ideas.

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He acknowledges the issue and counter argues that the Charter is not used for individuals to deny their rights, instead, it is a tool for individuals to refuse any judicial conception towards the Constitution. To further his argument, he states that individuals are even confused by the means of the charter. For example, under section 7 of the Charter, both pro-choice and pro-life parties are arguing on the basis of abortion, Mandel says there is no room for controversy in the Constitution and whether you fight for security (pro-choice) or the right to life (pro-life), under the Charter neither parties are right or wrong. Mandel’s interest concerns the importance of the Constitution when it is separate from its use of the public. He argues again that democracy is more about legalized politics, and the technique of legal reason and principle in order for the State to maintain power.

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