Reflections on Rawls

Arguably, there have been few contemporary political theorists who have had as great an impact as John Rawls. During his lifetime his work was referred to as "'epoch-making"1 and "cataclysmic in its effect" on the field of political theory.2 On numerous occasions he was proclaimed "the most important political phi losopher of the twentieth century,"3 and other titles equally celebratory. A number of individuals have gone so far as to credit Rawls with reviving pol itical philosophy, breathing new life into what was (according to Peter Laslett's now famous 1956 declaration) a dead discipline, once again making it a valid and valuable enterprise. While the accuracy of such a claim has been questioned, one fact seems indisputable: Rawls redefined late twentieth-century political theory, altering its "premises and principles."4 Indeed, "political philos ophy since the early 1970s has been-at least in the English-speaking world-in very substantial part a commentary on Rawls's work."5 Among the literally thousands of publications stimulated by Rawls's work6 are commentaries-some quite extensive and ongoing-by many of the most