John Rawls' theory of justice and economic freedom: The case of Turkey

John Rawls, with his work titled "A Theory of Justice" published in 1971, made the debates on justice to be at the center of moral and political philosophy. The concept of economic freedom, on other hand, gained importance in terms of both economic policies and individual-society, especially with the globalization and liberalization movements after 1980. This study aims to bring a normative interpretation to economic freedom within the framework of Rawls' conception of justice. There is an inseparable relationship between justice and freedom. This connection can be seen in the views of many thinkers from Aristotle to Rawls. Rawls, while departing from Aristotle by not basing justice on a certain conception of the good, emphasizes positive freedom, similar to Aristotle, with a need-based approach. Unlike Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, he did not find negative freedom sufficient for the freedom of the individual. Considering J. J. Rousseau's concept of sense of justice, Rawls reached unconditional principles of justice by following in the footsteps of Immanuel Kant. Rawls, in his theory of justice, accepts basic liberties as a value that can never be waived. The biggest problem in ensuring justice is to preserve equal basic liberties. Therefore, while the first principle of justice includes everyone's equal enjoyment of basic liberties, the second principle aims to protect basic liberties. In this way, economic freedom are limited by the second principle of justice. This limitation will both protect equal basic liberties and establish justice in society by considering the least advantaged members of society. In other words, the restriction of economic freedom does not damage justice, on the contrary, it is a requirement of justice. The conclusion of the study is that economic freedom limited by justice as fairness will improve the situation of the least advantaged and make a more fair social order possible. Thus, it can be said that the basic liberties of the minimum wage earners or the poorest percentiles will not be harmed and the level of welfare will increase in Turkey.