A Brief History of Justice

The idea of justice has been central to political philosophy since its origin. Indeed, the two towering book–ends to Western political thought –– Plato′s Republic and John Rawls′ milestone 1971 publication, A Theory of Justice –– are both essays on justice . Structured around the historical and conceptual relationship between distributive and corrective justice, A Brief History of Justice traces the development of this fundamental idea from antiquity to the present day. This wide–ranging, yet concise book delves deeply into the evolving traditions of justice, from roots in Babylonian and Hebrew law and Greek political thought to the most prominent contemporary renderings in the work of Rawls and other modern thinkers, including incisive chapter–length introductions to the work of Plato, Aristotle, the utilitarians, Kant, and Rawls.  David Johnston weaves a sophisticated, yet accessible, narrative, integrating philosophical discussion with pressing contemporary questions about justice. With clarity and scholarly precision, A Brief History of Justice offers readers an invaluable survey of an important and powerful concept that continues to dominate the field of political philosophy.

Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Prologue: From the Standard Model to a Sense of Justice 7 1 The Terrain of Justice 15 2 Teleology and Tutelage in Plato′s Republic 38 3 Aristotle′s Theory of Justice 63 4 From Nature to Artifice: Aristotle to Hobbes 89 5 The Emergence of Utility 116 6 Kant’s Theory of Justice 142 7 The Idea of Social Justice 167 8 The Theory of Justice as Fairness 196 Epilogue: From Social Justice to Global Justice? 223 Glossary of Names 233 Source Notes 239 Index 257

David Johnston is Professor of Political Science and formerly Joseph Straus Professor of Political Philosophy in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University . His books include The Rhetoric of Leviathan: Thomas Hobbes and the Politics of Cultural Transformation (1986), The Idea of a Liberal Theory (1994), Leviathan: A Norton Critical Edition (ed. with Richard Flathman, 1997), and Equality (ed., 2000).

“Highly recommended.  Lower–level undergraduates through graduate students; general readers.” ( Choice , 1 March 2012)