Sandel’s Criticism And Reconstruction On Subject Theory Of Rawls

The argument about the priority of the right and the good has always been a considerable problem of Political Ethics. The starting point of this problem is how to define the concept of subject, the position of subject in community and the relationship between subject and community, which directly guide to disagreements between the supremacy of individual rights and the priority of community interest. Therefore the argument is not only about theory, it’s more about how people deal with the relationship between themselves and others and the community in real world, as well as how can community protect individual rights, and achieve the unity of individual rights and community interest to firm the foundation of community.This paper focus on studies of the argument on the subject and community between Rawls and Sandel. As a representative of Neoliberalism, Rawls’ theory of justice priority has a huge impact in Political Ethics. It firms the foundation of Neoliberalism, but at the same time also supports for the current of Individualism. However, the criticism from Sandel shook the foundation of Neoliberalism. Under this theory background, starting from the subject theory, focusing the Sandel’s criticism of Rawls, settled in the significance of community to personal development self-identity as well as harmony relationship among individuals, this paper systematically dissert on the research. Hope that can provide some reference to contain the spread of Individualism.The thesis starts from transcendental subject—the source of Rawls’ subject concept. These two concepts have a lot of similarities and succession. At the same time, Rawls’ raised the theory of “Original State” against the vagueness of Kant’s subject concept. The second part unfolds around subject and community in Original State which include three aspects: Original State and “Veil of Ignorance”, the property of subject and the community made up by cooperation. The third part is about Sandel’s criticism of Rawls. It’s expounded from three levels corresponded with the forward part, which focus on possessive subject, alternative subject and reflection subject. The last part is research about Sandel’s consitutional subject and the action of community in self-identity. On the basis of the research, we can summarize the action of Sandel’s subject theory in self-identity and consorting the relationship among individual, others and the community, hoping that will provide an Ethics approach on setting up harmony social relationships.