Rawlsian

English

Etymology

Rawls +‎ -ian

Adjective

Rawlsian (comparative more Rawlsian, superlative most Rawlsian)

1. Of, relating to, or influenced by John Rawls (1921–2002), American moral and political philosopher.
   • 2002, James Andreoni and John Miller, “Giving according to GARP”, in Econometrica, volume 70, number 2, page 745:

     People differ on whether they care about fairness at all, and when they do care about fairness the notion of fairness they employ differes widely, ranging from Rawlsian (Leontief) to Utilitarian (perfect substitutes).

   • 2023, Edmund Phelps, My Journeys in Economic Theory, Columbia University Press, page 81:

     After my first paper on Rawlsian justice—modeling what that justice would look like in an extremely simple kind of economy—a large part of my work took up for some time questions about a Rawlsian economy with capital, overlapping generations, and some principle for determining the national saving.

Derived terms

• Rawlsianism

Noun

Rawlsian (plural Rawlsians)

1. A follower of the theories of John Rawls.