John Rawls

"Fair procedures are needed because we cannot directly compare different persons' well-being."

"A just society must secure the social basis for citizens' self-respect."

"Political power should be exercised according to principles that could be justified to all."

"The idea of publicity—that basic principles should be public—is central to justice."

"Citizens' good involves pursuing their conception of the good life within fair constraints."

"A democratic society must respect the separateness of persons and their individual pursuits."

"Justice requires that we account for the reasonable disagreements that characterize pluralistic societies."

"The difference principle connects the distribution of advantages to the benefit of all."

"Liberal justice does not impose any comprehensive conception of human flourishing on citizens."

"A just basic structure must minimize the influence of morally arbitrary factors on life prospects."

"The right to equal concern and respect is foundational to democratic citizenship."

"Justice requires that inequalities serve the purposes of a well-ordered society."

"Political society is characterized by inevitable disagreement about fundamental matters."

"Citizens' entitlements derive from principles they could accept as representatives of free persons."

"A just society provides all citizens with access to the goods necessary for rational agency."

"The two principles of justice define fair terms for social cooperation among equals."

"Public reason requires appealing to considerations all citizens could accept."

"Justice as fairness is compatible with diverse comprehensive conceptions of the good life."

"Citizens possess higher-order interests in their capacity to form their own conception of the good."

"The basic liberties must be secured equally for all citizens to exercise political power fairly."

"A stable just society requires citizens to develop a sense of justice as a moral sentiment."

"The burdens of judgment explain why reasonable persons disagree about the good life."

"Justice demands that we view social cooperation as fair to all participants."

"Democratic legitimacy requires that basic political decisions be justifiable to all citizens."

"The right and the good must be kept analytically distinct in liberal political philosophy."

"Citizens' self-respect depends on knowing their society respects them as equal persons."

"A just structure of basic institutions is a prerequisite for any legitimate political authority."

"Freedom includes the capacity to revise and pursue one's conception of the good."

"Justice requires principles all could accept as representatives of free and equal persons."

"The legitimacy of political decisions depends on their justifiability to all affected citizens."