Political Science · Western Political Thought
UGC NET June 2015 Political Science
Which one of the following social contract traditions has not been revitalised by John Rawls in his book 'A Theory of Justice'?
AHobbes ✓ Correct
BRousseau
CJ. J. Rousseau
DImmanuel Kant
Correct answer: (A) Hobbes — The social-contract tradition that Rawls did not revive is that of Hobbes.
Explanation
★The social-contract tradition that Rawls did not revive is that of Hobbes.
★In A Theory of Justice of 1971 Rawls renews the contract tradition of Locke, Rousseau, and Kant, raising it to a higher level of abstraction.
★His original position behind a veil of ignorance derives justice as fairness, a moral and idealist contract.
★Hobbes, by contrast, grounds the contract in fear and self-interest, producing an absolute sovereign rather than principles of justice.
★Rawls explicitly sets his Kantian, deontological contract against the prudential bargain of Hobbes.
★This contrast pairs Rawls with the Locke-Rousseau-Kant line and isolates Hobbes as the realist outlier.
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