Paul Weithman, “Why Political Liberalism? On John Rawls’s Political Turn” (Oxford UP, 2010)
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What is the significance of John Rawls’ *A Theory of Justice* and *Political Liberalism*?
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Hello, everyone, and welcome to the New Books and Philosophy channel of the New Books Network. My name is Robert Talese. I'm professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University, and I co-host the channel with Carrie Figdirk. Today, I'll be talking with Paul Weithman about his book, Why Political Liberalism, which was published by Oxford University Press. A paperback edition is due out this fall. Paul Weithman is professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. It is difficult to overstate the importance of John Rawls to political and moral philosophy. I also think that it's not implausible to say that even in the distant future, Rawls's work will be studied alongside the great works of political theory by people like Hobbes, Locke, Kant, and Mill.
Yet Rawls's work is commonly read as fundamentally disjointed, divided between early and late periods that are marked by the publication of his two major books, A Theory of Justice and Political Liberalism. What's more, the common account of Rawls' intellectual trajectory has it that the later Rawls came to regard the project of the early Rawls as deeply misguided in some way. That is, the later work is often read as an attempt to dial back or even renounce the project of a theory of justice. In other words, Rawls' second book, Political Liberalism, is most commonly taken to represent a drastic lowering of the ambitions for political philosophy. Now, in his book, Weizmann meticulously develops and defends a non-standard account of Rawls' turn to political liberalism.
According to Weizmann, Rawls' second book, Political Liberalism, is addressed to the very same problem that Rawls is focused on in his first book, A Theory of Justice. Rawls's turn, then, according to Weizmann, involves not a change of topic or a lowering of the sights of political philosophy, but rather a change in how Rawls understood the nature of social stability. If Weizmann is correct, the standard understanding of Rawls's philosophy needs to change significantly. And perhaps more importantly, if Weizmann is right, many of the common criticisms of Rawls more obviously miss their mark. The book Why Political Liberalism is a detailed and rigorous book, so there's a lot to discuss. So let's turn to the interview.
Hello, Paul Weithman. Hi, Bob. How are you this morning? I'm very well. How are you? Oh, I'm doing fine. Thank you so much for joining us on New Books in Philosophy.
I'm glad to be here.
Well, wonderful. Today, my guest is Professor Paul Weizmann. He's the author of the book, Why Political Liberalism, which is just about to come out, I believe, in paperback with Oxford University Press. This book is, to my mind, the very best book-length examination of Rawls' political philosophy taken whole to date.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the significance of John Rawls’ *A Theory of Justice* and *Political Liberalism*?
0:00–8:06
2
How does Paul Weithman describe the common “public‑basis” interpretation of Rawls’ turn?
8:06–17:57
3
Why does Weithman argue that Rawls’ later work does not lower the ambition of political philosophy?
17:57–29:50
4
What are the two principles of justice that Rawls proposes in the original position?
29:50–46:44
5
How does Rawls’ “congruence argument” attempt to secure stability in a well‑ordered society?
46:44–1:03:47
6
Why does Weithman say Rawls reverses the quantifiers to solve the stability problem in *Political Liberalism*?
1:03:47–1:15:30
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from New Books in Philosophy
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