Almost every country today contains adherents of different religions and different secular conceptions of the good life. Is there any alternative to a power struggle among them, leading most probably to either civil war or oppression? The argument of this book is that justice as impartiality offers a solution. According to the theory of justice as impartiality, principles of justice are those principles that provide a reasonable basis for the unforced assent of those subject to them. The object of this book is to set out the theory, explain its rationale, and respond to the variety of criticisms that have been made of it. This is the second volume of A Treatise on Social Justice. The first, Theories of Justice, explored alternative theories and concluded by asserting the superiority of justice as impartiality. This conclusion is built on in Justoce as Impartiality, but it does not presuppose acquaintance with Theories of Justice.

Prizes

Winner of Joint winner of the 1995 W. J. M. Mackenzie Prize awarded by the Political Studies Association.

The reader ... will be rewarded. At every turn of the trail he will come upon a broad and uplifting view ... at every stage Barry illuminates his argument with powerful examples drawn from real life ... he is at pains to keep his words always simple, clear and robust. * The Financial Times *
Quite simply Anglo-American political philosophy at its best. Barry's analytical rigour is a precious lesson in how to think and write on philosophical themes, and the elegance of his writing and occasional witty remark makes the reading an enjoyable experience ... a short review cannot do justice to a book full of powerful reasoning and inspired ideas ... Barry is perhaps the most original contributor to the debate on social justice since Rawls, and Justice as Impartiality will be at the centre of discussion for many years to come. * Political Studies *
The book gives us reason to look forward to the third volume of Barry's treatise. He is at his very best when, as he sees the exercise, he puts his heuristic to work and elaborates his views on particular matters in the theory of justice. The examples of this exercise in the current volume are uniformly interesting ... the book does well; it is a high-class contribution to political theory. * Times Literary Supplement *
Justice as Impartiality moves fluently from abstract argument to practical application, and is characteristically clear and occasionally caustic. In reading Barry's constructive suggestions, and his commentary on others' work, both teachers and students of political theory will find much to learn and criticise. * Times Higher Education Supplement *

Brian Barry is Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics. Hi is a Fellow of the British Academy and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was the founding editor of the highly respected British Journal of Political Science and editor of the world's leading moral philosophy journal Ethics. His previous books include: Theories of Justice; Democracy and Power: Essays in Political Theory 1 (OUP, 1991) and Liberty and Justice: Essays in Political Theory 2 (OUP, 1991)