Rawls' Theory of Justice (Summer Repeat)

--:--
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss A Theory of Justice by John Rawls (1921 - 2002) which has been called the most influential book in twentieth century political philosophy. It was first published in 1971. Rawls drew on his own experience in WW2 and saw the chance in its aftermath to build a new society, one founded on personal liberty and fair equality of opportunity. While in that just society there could be inequalities, Rawls’ radical idea was that those inequalities must be to the greatest advantage not to the richest but to the worst off.WithFabienne Peter
Professor of Philosophy at the University of WarwickMartin O’Neill
Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of YorkAndJonathan Wolff
The Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford and Fellow of Wolfson CollegeProducer: Simon TillotsonIn Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production
5 Sep English United Kingdom Religion & Spirituality

Other recent episodes

Mitochondria (Summer Repeat)

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the power-packs within cells in all complex life on Earth. Inside each cell of every complex organism there are structures known as mitochondria. The 19th century scientists who first observed them thought they were bacteria which had somehow invaded the cells they were studying. We…
10 Oct 52 min

Thomas Hardy's Poetry (Summer Repeat)

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Thomas Hardy (1840 -1928) and his commitment to poetry, which he prized far above his novels. In the 1890s, once he had earned enough from his fiction, Hardy stopped writing novels altogether and returned to the poetry he had largely put aside since his twenties…
3 Oct 52 min

Charisma (Summer Repeat)

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the idea of charismatic authority developed by Max Weber (1864-1920) to explain why people welcome some as their legitimate rulers and follow them loyally, for better or worse, while following others only dutifully or grudgingly. Weber was fascinated by those such as Napoleon (above) and…
26 Sep 56 min

Elizabeth Anscombe (Summer Repeat)

In 1956 Oxford University awarded an honorary degree to the former US president Harry S. Truman for his role in ending the Second World War. One philosopher, Elizabeth Anscombe (1919 – 2001), objected strongly.She argued that although dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have ended the fighting, it…
19 Sep 57 min

The Fish-Tetrapod Transition (Summer Repeat)

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the greatest changes in the history of life on Earth. Around 400 million years ago some of our ancestors, the fish, started to become a little more like humans. At the swampy margins between land and water, some fish were turning their fins…
12 Sep 57 min