The role of education in John Rawls's theory of justice as fairness

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the position that education occupies in John Rawls's theory of justice as fairness. The guiding hypothesis of the research is that the Rawlsian theory assigned an insufficient place and a secondary role to education, sub-thematizing it in its main works. We believe that the issue of education, essential for the development of fair democratic societies, should occupy a more central place in contemporary theories of justice. Therefore, the first part of the thesis consists in the affirmation of this premise, through the presentation of the education model that we consider fundamental for the promotion of fair democratic societies, that is: an educational model directed to the citizen and humanistic formation, which prepares the individual not only for the labor market, but mainly for acting in the democratic life of his community and which values, among other things, the teaching of arts, philosophy, and humanities in general, as emphasized by Martha Nussbaum. In the second part of the thesis, we present the main contours main contours assumed by the theory of justice as fairness, detailing how the Rawlsian theory is considered the mainstay of egalitarian liberalism, emphasizing the defense of the principles of equality and difference. In addition, we address how the theme of education appears in Rawls's main works and how the role of education undergoes considerable changes throughout his intellectual itinerary, moving from an education more directed to moral formation, the idea of autonomy and the constitution of a sense of justice, to a more political and civic education, focused on the exercise of citizenship in the face of pluralism and diversity characteristic of today's democratic societies. In the last chapter of the research we argued that the issue of education was subthemed in the theory of justice as fairness due to the focus given by Rawls on developing an ideal theory for a well-ordered society, which made it impossible for such a theory to address issues related to inequities that already exist and need rectification. As a result, we present an alternative: due to the centrality of education for the constitution of fair democratic societies, it should be situated at the core of the basic structure, as a social institution and a requirement of justice, which would assign a greater centrality to education than that granted by Rawls in his works.