Liberalism and the Limits of Justice

By Michael J. Sandel

Book Overview

A liberal society seeks not to impose a single way of life, but to leave its citizens as free as possible to choose their own values and ends. It therefore must govern by principles of justice that do not presuppose any particular vision of the good life. But can any such principles be found? And if not, what are the consequences for justice as a moral and political ideal? These are the questions Michael Sandel takes up in this penetrating critique of contemporary liberalism. Sandel locates modern liberalism in the tradition of Kant, and focuses on its most influential recent expression in the work of John Rawls. In the most important challenge yet to Rawls' theory of justice, Sandel traces the limits of liberalism to the conception of the person that underlies it, and argues for a deeper understanding of community than liberalism allows.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521567416
• ISBN13: 9780521567411
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A must-read for anyone even remotely interested in poitics, morals, and law

A dense but not a difficult read, Sandel's Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (LLJ) is a useful introduction to political and moral reasoning. The primary purpose of the book is to bring to the forefront the fundamental weaknesses of the liberalist position as according to Rawls, which LLJ succeeds in doing. The book is, however, not a full-on frontal assault on Rawlsian Liberalism, but a thought provoking challenge to its assumptions and logical inconsistencies. Particularly enguaging is the discussion of the notion of Personhood and how Rawls wavers on his application of that concept to his concept of Justice.