A Farewell to Readers, With Hope
A columnist offers lessons learned from decades on the front lines of reporting and explains why he is leaving to run for office.
"...while I've spent my career on the front lines of human suffering and depravity, covering genocide, war, poverty and injustice, I've emerged firmly believing that we can make real progress by summoning the political will. We are an amazing species, and we can do better..." nyt
A columnist offers lessons learned from decades on the front lines of reporting and explains why he is leaving to run for office.
"...while I've spent my career on the front lines of human suffering and depravity, covering genocide, war, poverty and injustice, I've emerged firmly believing that we can make real progress by summoning the political will. We are an amazing species, and we can do better..." nyt
H02 - Luz Tellez; forgot to submit during the day I gave my presentation, which was Monday (10/25/21)
ReplyDeleteSummary
My presentation was on John Rawls. Born in 1921 to 2002, Rawls is well-known for his contributions to modern political philosophy through his academic writings - the most popular being “Theory of Justice” (1971), which was explained in “A Little History of Philosophy.” I went into details of his mature works, “theory of justice” and “the law of the peoples” (1993) to elaborate on his standings with forming justful constitutions and their connections.
A preface to that, his upbringing consisted of an early tragedy and a rich education path. During his undergraduate years, Rawls published his senior thesis, “The Meaning of Sin and Faith”, as he continued a christain faith. However, the heat of the draft was pushing many after or before graduation to serve. Rawls decided to join WWII and postpone a path for priesthood; however, his active duty would prove Rawl’s abandonment of the church. The Nazi rule and haolocaust were so tragic to him, while also the unfair military leaders. This unfairness pushed him to return to academia to discover ways to fight the unjust. His popular publication, Theory of Justice, discussed the ‘original position’ to decide on the principles of a better society, and the principles would align with two general principles - difference principle and equal opportunity and rights. In addition, I stated the Law of the Peoples (1993) and how it further carried the difference principle but on a global level.
Discussion Questions:
Are there any issues today that could be solved using the veil of ignorance?
In what ways do you see Rawl’s original position being limited if applied to our society?
Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p094b7cq
Youtube:
https://youtu.be/H0CTHVCkm90
https://youtu.be/5-JQ17X6VNg
Sources:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rawls/#JusFaiJusWitLibSoc
https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Rawls
https://iep.utm.edu/rawls/
https://voegelinview.com/john-rawls-on-religion/
RAWLS’ THEORY OF JUSTICE: AN ANALYSIS; e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845.
https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2019/09/john-rawls-political-philosophy
https://www.military-history.org/feature/thinkers-at-war-john-rawls.htm
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2002/12/john-rawls-and-the-politics-of-social-justice/377209/
Cohen, J. (2004). The Importance of Philosophy: Reflections on John Rawls. South African Journal of Philosophy, 23(2), 113–119.
https://www.heritage.org/political-process/report/john-rawls-theorist-modern-liberalism