Ideal & Nonideal Theory

John Rawls conceives of justice as fairness as a work of ideal theory. Ideal theory “assumes strict compliance and works out the principles that characterize a well-ordered society under favorable circumstances.”¹ Nonideal theory, on the other hand, “is worked out after an ideal conception of justice has been chosen” and addresses what the parties are to do when conditions are not as perfect as they are assumed to be in ideal theory.² While Rawls acknowledges the importance of issues within nonideal theory (as these are the issues that we confront in the real world), he believes the work in nonideal theory can only be pursued after the ideal theory has been established. Hence, he devotes little time to discussing the application of the principles of justice as fairness within the realm of nonideal theory.

1. John Rawls, A Theory of Justice: Revised Edition (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999), 216.
2. Ibid.