The debate of divergence: an evaluation of Michael Sandel’s criticisms to John Rawls’ liberalism

Abstract

The main objective of Micheal Sandel’s Liberalism and the Limits of Justice was to attack the concept of deontology, as formulated by John Rawls. In this article, I argue that Sandel interpreted the concept of deontology in a misleading way. There is a difference between how Rawls defined this concept and how it was interpreted by Sandel. Given this, the first part of this article will analyze the way Sandel interpreted the Rawlsian concept of deontology. The second part presents an assessment of the clash between the two authors in light of the differences in the way both of them understood the meaning of deontology in political liberalism.