This book is the first detailed reconstruction of the late work of John Rawls. John Rawls is considered to be one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. Well known for his writings as a political philosopher, Rawls also commented on economic and developmental psychology topics. His book A Theory of Justice has produced a considerable number of commentaries on Rawls' theory of “justice-as-fairness”. In this volume Edmundson explores the generally accepted notion that Rawls was a defender of welfare-state capitalism as found in Western Europe and the United States. He points out that shortly before his death, Rawls expanded on what type of regime meet his criteria of a just state in his Justice as Fairness: A Restatement. Edmundson further develops Rawls' ideas on what our individual duties of justice are when we find ourselves in a society that falls short of justice and fairness.

William A. Edmundson is Regents Professor of Law and Philosophy at Georgia State University College of Law. He is the author of Three Anarchical Fallacies (1998) and An Introduction to Rights (2012) and editor of The Duty to Obey the Law (1999) and The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory (2004). He is also the series editor of the Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy and Law.