Rawls’ Theory of Justice: An Improvement upon the Utilitarian Doctrine

Abstract

John Rawls’ theory of justice provided a revolutionary conception of the justice system and the morals behind it. As a solution to the deadlock of utilitarian and intuitionist theories of justice, it presented a superior explanation, which relied less upon seemingly unfounded assumptions of human nature having an inherent interest in pursuing the greater good. For the purposes of this argument, John Stuart Mills’ conception of utilitarian justice is compared to Rawls’ theory.