Luck-egalitarianism was clearly articulated as a position only after TJ was published and, accordingly, one might presume that TJ’s relation to luck-egalitarianism may not be as clear-cut as one would have liked it to be forty years later. Mandle does a good job showing why crucial elements in Rawls’ position are incompatible with luck-egalitarianism - e.g., the difference principle appears to permit inequalities that reflect arbitrary differences in people’s talents - and why some passages normally offered in support of a luck-egalitarian interpretation of Rawls should be read differently. The first part offers a brief sketch of Rawls’ life and truly remarkable personality, his pre-TJ work, an overview of the main arguments and principles of TJ, and a critical review of two influential, but according to Mandle, misguided interpretations of TJ: first, that Rawls rejects the notion of desert altogether and, second, that Rawls holds the luck-egalitarian belief that ‘all inequalities that are arbitrary - those who are nobody’s fault - are presumptively unjust’ (p. Mandle’s book is divided into four main parts. He is basically sympathetic to the project in TJ and sees his task as one of rescuing ‘its core from misinterpretation and misguided criticisms’ (p.

Mandle pays particular attention to showing why TJ should not be read as an early luck-egalitarian work and why it is not a defense of welfare-state capitalism. Often, however, the exposition is broken off to sketch briefly and then reject interpretations of Rawls’ position that Mandle finds exegetically and otherwise unsatisfactory. In accordance with the aim of the series, the basic tone of the book is expository.

1 Jon Mandle is surely right that this remains as true now as it was in 1974. As one of Rawls’ critics, Robert Nozick, wrote in 1974: ‘Political philosophers now must either work within Rawls’ theory or explain why not’.

This one introduces a book that has undoubtedly been extremely important over the last forty years: John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice (henceforth TJ). Cambridge Introductions to Key Philosophical Texts offer ‘introductory textbooks on what are considered to be the most important texts of Western Philosophy’.

Rawls 1999 a theory of justice