Rawls's Peoples

Pettit, Philip N.

Abstract

Rawls's Peoples

Philip N. Pettit

Princeton University - Department of Politics

ENVISIONING A NEW INTERNATIONAL ORDER: ESSAYS ON RAWL'S LAW OF PEOPLES, Rex Martin and David Reidy, eds., Blackwell, Oxford, 2005

Abstract:
Social ontology does not drive political theory as axioms drive a theorem, but it can have an important shaping or constraining effect; this fits with Rawls's idea that our views on normative and related topics should be in 'wide reflective equilibrium' This paper tries to document the shaping effect of Rawls's social ontology on his theory of international justice. It begins with a characterization of Rawls's rejection of cosmopolitanism. It reviews the claims that he makes about peoples and tries to articulate the ontology of peoples that they support. And then in the final section it shows how that ontology helps to explain his position on cosmopolitanism.

Accepted Paper Series

Date posted: June 23, 2005

Suggested Citation

Pettit, Philip N., Rawls's Peoples. ENVISIONING A NEW INTERNATIONAL ORDER: ESSAYS ON RAWL'S LAW OF PEOPLES, Rex Martin and David Reidy, eds., Blackwell, Oxford, 2005. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=747665

Contact Information

Philip N. Pettit (Contact Author)

Princeton University - Department of Politics ( email )

Corwin Hall
Princeton, NJ 08544-1012
United States
609-258-4759 (Phone)
609-258-1110 (Fax)