Principles of justice and sense of justice. Ricoeur critiques Rawls' formalism (Paul Ricoeur)

The "minor ethics" which Ricoeur develops in Soi-meme comme un autre is distinctive in its way of applying justice to the individual, the other and the community all at the same time. For this reason the problem of distribution of social goods is fundamental. Ricoeur attempts to resolve this problem through a synthesis of teleological and deontological considerations, and here the approach of Rawls occupies a central place. On one hand, the attempt to solve this problem in the framework of a teleological approach draws on principles of justice which Rawls establishes through formal procedure; on the other hand, Rawls' position depends on a number of teleological presuppositions which are not compatible with his deontological approach. Ricoeur does not only attempt to refute Rawls, but to interpret his principles of justice as the result of a rationalisation of a sense of justice which is simply presupposed.