John Rawl and Justice for the Disabled

Paper Summary:

The paper explores the concepts of Kant's Utilitarianism in contrast to John Rawl's political conception of justice. The paper demonstrates that, while in theory Rawl's concept of justice as fairness seems viable, it would be impossible to put his theory into practise. The paper therefore concludes that while Rawls' theory of justice is generally applicable, it does not sufficiently address justice for the mentally disabled.

From the Paper:

"While reading John Rawl's work it is easy to mistake him for his predecessor in the field of social justice and morality; Emmanuelle Kant. Claims such as all citizens are free, equal and independent, and must therefore be treat with equal regard mirror Kant's claim that humanity is intrinsic in value. Furthermore Rawls claims that all citizens have a capacity for justice (Rawls, 1999) which is similar to Kant's assertion that human beings are rational beings, with the capacity to reason (Kant, 1998 [1781) and therefore the capacity to develop an understanding of what is just, moral and fair."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Davis, L. J. 'Dependency and Justice'. Journal of Literary Disability. Volume 1, Issue 2, 2007.
• Durkheim, E. (1984 [1893] The Division of Labour in Society. MacMillan: London.
• Goodlad, R. & Riddell, S. Social Justice and Disabled People: Principles and Challenges. Social Policy and Society (2005), Volume 4, Issue 1. Pp.45-54 Cambridge University Press: Cambridge
• Jenkins, R. (1996) Social Identity. Routledge: London.
• Kant, E. (1787 [1781]) Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, trans. and ed. by Paul Guyer and Allen W. Wood, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998

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