The Conception Of Reason In A Theory Of Justice

The conception of reason in A Theory of Justice is complicated, but Rawls’ emphasis is obvious. This thesis is a preliminary research on the conception of reason presented in A Theory of Justice. It is written using text analysis method, based on A Theory of Justice itself, and started by introducing Rawls’ senior thesis and religious opinion. The method of comprehension used by this thesis is as follows: First, this thesis summarizes the contents in three parts of A Theory of Justice, which would help understand the conception of reason; secondly, the conception of reason is explained roughly by defining and describing its characters; finally, this thesis rethinks Rawls’ conception of reason presented in A Theory of Justice, analyzes the relationship between law and reason and examines how the reason enlightens the Chinese construction of the rule of law. By using such method of comprehension which combines the interpretation with rethink, this thesis considers that the conception of reason in A Theory of Justice can be roughly described as follows: the reason, which has four important characters: practical, logical, instrumental, neutral in value, is subject’s ability to analyze the subjective and objective information and to estimate the possible results, and the purpose of reason is to maximize one’s interest in practice. However, A Theory of Justice is not only a book that is written by reason, but also filled with ideals. The reason is one of the Rawls’ ideals in this book, thus the conception of reason is not neutral in value. Although the justice as fairness built on the belief of reason is deep and rigorous, its power to explain the muddle and pluralistic world still needs to be proved. Possibly, irrational factors, such as will, motion, and faith, are also significant for resolving the problem of justice, but cannot be explained clearly by reason, and should be experienced by the subject in the practice. In the practice of justice, we cannot just emphasize the reason because the balance between reason and unreason is more important.