 The Economic Principle of Political Liberalism: A Comparison of Rawls and SugdenFederica Nalli and Paolo Santori Review of Political Economy, 2023, vol. 35, issue 2, 476-493 Abstract: In his 2018 book, The Community of Advantage, economist Robert Sugden sets out his Principle of Mutual Benefit. This paper investigates the role that Sugden’s principle occupies in Rawls’ Political Liberalism. Would it be chosen by contracting parties in the Original Position and with what implications? We firstly show the potential complementarities of Rawls’ and Sugden’s approaches, integrating them in a broad philosophical framework. Second, we describe three scenarios in which Sugden’s principle could be integrated into Rawls’s system– (1) as a second order principle of the Difference Principle, (2) as a replacement of the whole Second Principle, or (3) as a substitute for the Difference Principle. We test each hypothesis through Rawls’s artificial device of the Original Position. We suggest that the Principle of Mutual Benefit can be understood as a substitute for the Difference Principle, reaffirming the importance of social justice in guaranteeing the stability of a market society. Date: 2023 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:35:y:2023:i:2:p:476-493 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/09538259.2021.1951476 Access Statistics for this article Review of Political Economy is currently edited by Steve Pressman and Louis-Philippe Rochon More articles in Review of Political Economy from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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