A Philosophical Account of Educational Justice Within the Framework of The Theory of Justice as Fairness

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate professor, Department of philosophy, wisdom and logic, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

2 MA Student in Philosophy, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Educational justice is not merely an educational or pedagogical concern; rather, it constitutes a fundamental component of social justice and a necessary condition for the realization of free and equal cooperation in society. Drawing on the theoretical foundations of John Rawls’s theory of justice, particularly the concepts of the basic structure of society, the sense of justice, and social cooperation, this study argues that public education plays a central role in sustaining a just social order. First, the concepts of the original position and the veil of ignorance are revisited as normative devices for the impartial evaluation of educational policies. Subsequently, by appealing to Rawls’s two principles of justice, equal basic liberties and fair equality of opportunity, it is argued, first, that the establishment of a fair educational system requires the systematic application of these principles, and second, that without such a fair educational system, the principles of justice themselves cannot achieve stability or durability over time. Finally, the paper concludes that education is not a secondary social good but rather a condition of possibility for a just society, insofar as the cultivation of a sense of justice in citizens and the continuation of social cooperation depend upon public education. In this way, Rawls’s theory of justice provides a normative framework for rethinking educational justice in contemporary democratic societies.

Graphical Abstract

A Philosophical Account of Educational Justice Within the Framework of The Theory of Justice as Fairness

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Beattie, C. (1982). Rawls and the distribution of education. Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l'éducation, 7(3), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.2307/1494694
Bell, D. (2024). Communitarianism. In E. N. Zalta & U. Nodelman (Eds.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Summer 2024 ed.). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2024/entries/communitarianism/
Coleman, J. S. (1976). Rawls, Nozick, and educational equality. The Public Interest, (31), 121–128. https://www.nationalaffairs.com/public_interest/detail/rawls-nozick-and-educational-equality
De Wijze, S. (1999). Rawls and civic education. Cogito, 13(2), 87–93. https://doi.org/10.5840/cogito199913225
Fraser, N. (2008). Scales of Justice: Reimagining Political Space in a Globalizing World. Columbia University Press.
Freeman, S. (2007). Rawls. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203945278
Graham Oliver, R. (2018). Rawls and Education. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://whatiseducationhq.com/articles/rawls-and-education/
Johnston, J. S. (2005). Rawls’s Kantian Educational Theory. Educational Theory, 55(2), 201–218.
Kliewer, B. W., & Zacharakis, J. (2015). Leadership education and development for justice using the canonical framework of John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice. Educational Considerations, 43(1). https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.1034
Lovett, F. (2011). Rawls’s A Theory of Justice: A Reader’s Guide. Continuum.
Mandle, J., & Reidy, D. A. (Eds.). (2015). The Cambridge Rawls lexicon. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139094752
Moini Alamdari, J. & Makhani, S. (2018). John Rawls: Transition from a Theory of Justice to Political Liberalism. Political Quarterly, 48(2), 453-471. (in Persian) https://doi.org/10.22059/Jpq.2018.200984.1006744
Morrison, H. B. (1984). Some implications in Rawls’s theory for civic education. The Journal of Negro Education, 53(1), 78–84.
Mulhall, S., & Swift, A. (2004). Rawls and communitarianism. In S. R. Freeman (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Rawls (pp. 460–487). Cambridge University Press.
Neufeld, B. (2023). Rawlsian Political Liberalism and Democratic Education. In J. Culp, J. Drerup, & D. Yacek (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Democratic Education (pp. 160–177). chapter, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nozick, R. (1974). Anarchy, state, and utopia. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Nussbaum, M. C. (2011). Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach. Harvard University Press.
Parker, W. C. (1996). Teaching democracy: Unity and diversity in public life. Teachers College Record, 97(3), 422–445. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9620.1996.tb01365.x
Pijanowski, J. (2015). Reconciling educational adequacy and equity arguments through a Rawlsian lens. eJEP: eJournal of Education Policy. Education Resources Information Center. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1158105
Pogge, T. (2007). John Rawls: His Life and Theory of Justice. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195136364.001.0001
Rawls, J. (1997). The idea of public reason revisited. The University of Chicago Law Review, 64(3), 765–807.
Rawls, J. (1999). A Theory of Justice (Revised Ed.). Harvard University Press
Rawls, J. (2005). Political Liberalism (Expanded ed.). New York: Columbia University Press.
Rawls, J. (2023). A Theory of Justice, translated by M. Nouri, Iranian Research Institute of Philosophy (Markaz). (in Persian)
Sandel, M. J. (1982). Liberalism and the limits of justice. Cambridge University Press.
Satz, D. (2007). Equality, adequacy, and education for citizenship. Ethics, 117(4), 623–648. https://doi.org/10.1086/518805
Schouten, G. (2021). Equal Educational Opportunity: What Should It Mean? In M. Barrett (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Education (pp. 187–198). Routledge.
Sohbatloo, A., & Ghafari, A. (2021). An analysis of educational justice in the national education system based on Rawls’s theory of justice. Islam va Pazhuhesh-hā-ye Tarbiyati, 13(1), 57–76. (in Persian)
Webb, R. (2005). Democratic education and the ideal of equality: Some reflections on Rawls. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 39(1), 85–100. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9752.2005.00416.x
Weitz, B. A. (1993). Equality and Justice in Education: Dewey and Rawls. Human Studies, 16(4), 421–434.
Yarigholi, B. (2014). An Investigation of Education and Educational Justice in John Rawls’ Theory of Justice. The Journal of New Thoughts on Education, 10(3), 139-172. https://doi.org/10.22051/jontoe.2015.380 (in Persian)
Yarigholi, B. & Zarghami, S. (2014). An investigation of the possibility of using educational justice, derived from the justice theory in educational systems: A critical hermeneutic perspective. Journal of Educational Innovations, 13(2), 100-123. (in Persian)
Send comment about this article
CAPTCHA Image
Journal of Philosophical Investigations
Volume 20, Issue 55 - Serial Number 55
Articles
Issue 55, Summer 2026
July 2026
Pages 197-220

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics