Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2009
Publication Title
Social Theory and Practice
Volume
35
Issue
3
First Page
441
Last Page
459
DOI
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23558453
Abstract
In his late work The Law of Peoples, John Rawls identifies the opportunity for meaningful work as a social basis of self-respect. This constitutes a significant shift in his account of self-respect, one that has been so far overlooked. In this paper I examine this shift. I begin by clarifying Rawls’s account of self-respect in A Theory of Justice (hereafter, Theory), then consider some post-Theory developments in it. After exploring the nature of Rawls’s commitment to the opportunity for meaningful work, I ask why he thinks it is a social basis of self-respect. I extract a partial answer from his writings, then speculate about his full reasoning. Finally, I consider whether Rawls is right that the opportunity for meaningful work is a social basis of self-respect. I give some reason to believe that he is.
Recommended Citation
Moriarty, Jeffrey, 2009. Rawls, Self-Respect, and the Opportunity for Meaningful Work, Social Theory and Practice.
Included in
Applied Ethics Commons, Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons
