What principles of justice should underwrite the basic structure of society? This is a question that all people of good will have confronted at one time or another and the answers are, not surprisingly, quite varied. John Rawls offered perhaps the most influential, though not uncontroversial, answer of the last 150 years. Drawing on and expanding the social contract tradition, it has proved a touchstone for almost all thinking about liberalism and its vision of a just society. We will closely study his Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, which is something like the summative statement of his work, a work that seems particular timely in light of both the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—itself an attempt to articulate principles of justice—and the widespread contemporary pessimism about liberalism's own future.

Participants will meet once each day from July 13–16 for a two-hour online seminar from 12–2 p.m. EST.

Teachers joining us for this online seminar will discuss the text in a small, interactive class led by St. John’s College faculty. The seminar will also include conversation about ways in which the ideas and texts explored together might be integrated into participants’ own classrooms and teaching.

Please note that registration for this summer seminar will be limited. Priority during the registration process will be given to current K–12 classroom educators.