A Theory of Justice

John Rawls draws on the most subtle techniques of contemporary analytic philosophy to provide the social contract tradition with what is, from a philosophical point of view at least, the most formidable defense it has yet received ...[and] makes available the powerful intellectual resources and the comprehensive approach that have so far eluded antiutilitarians.
--Marshall Cohen (New York Times Book Review )

I mean ...to press my recommendation of [this book] to non-philosophers, especially those holding positions of responsibility in law and government. For the topic with which it deals is central to this country's purposes, and the misunderstanding of that topic is central to its difficulties.
--Peter Caws (New Republic )

The most substantial and interesting contribution to moral philosophy since the war.
--Stuart Hampshire (New York Review of Books )