John Rawls and John Dewey are among the most influential philosophers. Although some aspects
of Rawls’s and Dewey’s philosophical positions have been discussed previously by some
scholars, those critical studies have compared Dewey’s ideas with the ideas of Rawls while focusing
on Rawls’s earlier work, A Theory of Justice. Different from the previous studies, this
paper reexamines the two philosophers’ ideas within the limits of political liberalism as framed
by Rawls’s later work, Political Liberalism, while focusing on the two philosophers’ discussions
about the concepts of democracy, pluralism, and the person.John Rawls and John Dewey are among the most influential philosophers. Although some aspects
of Rawls’s and Dewey’s philosophical positions have been discussed previously by some
scholars, those critical studies have compared Dewey’s ideas with the ideas of Rawls while focusing
on Rawls’s earlier work, A Theory of Justice. Different from the previous studies, this
paper reexamines the two philosophers’ ideas within the limits of political liberalism as framed
by Rawls’s later work, Political Liberalism, while focusing on the two philosophers’ discussions
about the concepts of democracy, pluralism, and the person.
