Reply to William L. McBride

Abstract

I greatly appreciate Professor William L.McBride's helpful comments on my paper. Thanks to his comments, no body denies in this room that Professor John Rawls is really one of the greatest philosophers in the 20th century. It is a great honor to me that I can have an opportunity to present a paper on such a great American philosopher's conception of justice. The theoretical models which are designed by most philosophers, I believe, reflect their aspirations to change the existing social conditions. In this sense I would like to say that the modles are not the mere refelctions of the present, but the blue print for the future. Neither a property-owning democracy nor a liberal (democratic) socialism which I discuss in my paper, is the exact reflection of any existing capitalist or socialist states. Since these models are designed to be compatible with Rawls's theory they must be regulated by his two principles of justice.