Die Wucht des Marktes Wie stabil ist Rawls’ Modell der Eigentumsdemokratie?

Abstract

Early on, John Rawls stated that his ideal of a just society could not be achieved within a capitalist economy. Instead, he preferred a property-owning democracy: a market economy that ensures that the ownership of the means of production is broadly distributed amongst its people. This essay discusses the role of the market within such a property-owning democracy. Rawls envisioned a neoclassical type of market, thereby maintaining capitalist features: obstinacy and competition, rivalry and ruthlessness. The central thesis of this paper is that these capitalist properties prevent citizens from developing their own sense of justice. This is a serious accusation because, according to Rawls, the condition for a just society to exist is that the citizens develop that sense of justice while dealing with institutions, thus enabling themselves to support and trust each other. A well-developed sense of justice is a fundamental requirement for social cohesion. The assumption that the institution of the market prevents the citizens from developing that sense of justice implicates a contradiction within Rawls’ ideal theory.

Bibliography: Starken, Finn: Die Wucht des Marktes. Wie stabil ist Rawls’ Modell der Eigentumsdemokratie?, ZPTh – Zeitschrift für Politische Theorie, 2-2025 (online first), pp. 1-17.