Abstract: This book is about the philosopher John Rawls and about his largest body of work in social justice. The book opens with a comprehensive biography of Rawls, which is the result of this book’s author’s academic and later personal relationship with Rawls. From thereon, it introduces and discusses Rawls’s theory of social justice mostly derived from his well-known work, A Theory of Justice. This book provides an introduction to Rawls’s writings in political philosophy. It provides exposition on the fundamental ideas of Rawls’s theory of justice, and further examines why and how Rawls came to formulate such views. In doing so, misinterpretations of Rawls’s views are discussed, elaborations and additional examples are used to clarify, and significant objections as well as possible defenses are raised. It also considers some of the major opponents of Rawls and the main criticisms they have raised against his conception of justice.

Keywords: political philosophy, social justice, biography, fairness