John Rawls

摘要

When young, John Rawls was a tal-ented athlete. Instead of becoming one of America's most distinguished political thinkers, he could have been a baseball player. Thin, quick and gangly, he would have made a perfect third baseman, a position requiring lightning reflexes and no time to think. In the line he chose, however―close argument―Mr Rawls was a slow mover. He noted queries in pencil, responded to every objection and often begged for time with, "I'll have to think about that." Many philosophers treat their theories as extensions of themselves; his seemed more like a common enterprise. He was modest, claiming that he took up philosophy because he was not clever enough for music or mathematics. Others at his level were quicker. Few were as thorough.