The Enduring Challenge

Rawls's A Theory of Justice is widely called the most important work of political philosophy in the 20th century. Its lasting power comes from a question that resists comfortable answers: would you accept this society if you did not know where you would land in it?

Most existing societies fail that test. The veil shows that much of what we treat as normal — inherited wealth, unequal schooling, discriminatory systems — is defensible only from the view of those who benefit. Rawls did not claim to have designed a perfect society; he gave us a method for judging fairness that strips away self-interest.