First Of All, Principles Should Be General.

The Circumstances Of Justice May Be Described As The Normal Conditions Under Which Human Cooperation Is Both Possible And Necessary.

The Natural Distribution Is Neither Just Nor Unjust; Nor Is It Unjust That Persons Are Born Into Society At Some Particular Position. These Are Simply Natural Facts. What Is Just And Unjust Is The Way That Institutions Deal With These Facts.

The Concept Of Justice I Take To Be Defined, Then, By The Role Of Its Principles In Assigning Rights And Duties And In Defining The Appropriate Division Of Social Advantages. A Conception Of Justice Is An Interpretation Of This Role.

Any Comprehensive Doctrine, Religious Or Secular, Can Be Introduced Into Any Political Argument At Any Time, But I Argue That People Who Do This Should Also Present What They Believe Are Public Reasons For Their Argument. So Their Opinion Is No Longer Just That Of One Particular Party, But An Opinion That All Members Of A Society Might Reasonably Agree To, Not Necessarily That They Would Agree To. What's Important Is That People Give The Kinds Of Reasons That Can Be Understood And Appraised Apart From Their Particular Comprehensive Doctrines.

You Hear That Liberalism Lacks An Idea Of The Common Good, But I Think That's A Mistake.