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154 - Peoples

from P

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2015

Jon Mandle
Affiliation:
State University of New York, Albany
David A. Reidy
Affiliation:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
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Summary

Any theory of international justice must include an account of the agents between whom duties of justice apply. In Rawls’s LP these agents are “peoples.” The term is somewhat obscure. While Rawls gives no general definition, certain key features are evident: a people is an independent, territorially based, political community united by “common sympathies” (LP 23) and a shared sense of justice. Though the emphasis on common sympathies, formed partly by cultural, historical, and linguistic ties, might suggest that peoples are akin to nations or ethnic groups, Rawls clearly construes peoples as essentially politically organized in a way that these other collectivities are not. However, at the same time, he carefully distinguishes peoples from states, to avoid implying two features traditionally associated with the latter in international law: the right to wage war for national gain and the right to unlimited discretion affairs (LP 25). Rawls also emphasizes that, unlike states as traditionally conceived, peoples are capable of having a moral character: ideally, they are concerned to cooperate on fair, mutually respectful terms with other peoples (LP 35).

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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  • Peoples
  • Edited by Jon Mandle, State University of New York, Albany, David A. Reidy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Book: The Cambridge Rawls Lexicon
  • Online publication: 05 February 2015
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139026741.155
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  • Peoples
  • Edited by Jon Mandle, State University of New York, Albany, David A. Reidy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Book: The Cambridge Rawls Lexicon
  • Online publication: 05 February 2015
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139026741.155
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Peoples
  • Edited by Jon Mandle, State University of New York, Albany, David A. Reidy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Book: The Cambridge Rawls Lexicon
  • Online publication: 05 February 2015
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139026741.155
Available formats
×