A CRITIQUE OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF JOHN RAWLS’ THEORY OF JUSTICE REGARDING THE NATURE OF SOCIAL LIFE: AN EASTERN-ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The ontological nature of human social life and its governing anthropological principles constitute the foundational bedrock of all theories of justice and political structures. This study deconstructs and scrutinizes John Rawls’s anthropological presuppositions regarding the nature of collective life within his theory of justice and the construct of the “Original Position”. This critique is formulated through the robust conceptual lenses of Eastern-Islamic philosophers, primarily drawing upon the philosophical frameworks of Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Khwaja Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. Methodologically, this research deploys a qualitative comparative-critical analysis, utilizing an integrative approach of both immanent (internal) and transcendent (external) critique via rigorous library-based research.

The findings reveal that the Rawlsian doctrine is strictly predicated upon a secular-humanistic paradigm of “Rational-Calculative Civility” (Madaniyyah bi al-Aql). Within this reductive model, social existence is degraded to a mere instrumental, transactional contract forged in the “Original Position” solely to maximize material primary goods. Conversely, Eastern-Islamic sages demonstrate an ontologically superior, two-dimensional anthropology that harmonizes human material nature (Tabi’ah) with the transcendent spiritual essence (Fitrah). They establish the genesis of society not as an artificial contract, but as an existential necessity rooted in “Dispositional Fitrah-Based Civility” (Madaniyyah bi al-Fitrah wa al-Tab’).

This critical analysis demonstrates that Rawls’s absolute reliance on autonomous, self-founded reason and the abstract mechanism of the “Veil of Ignorance” precipitates an operational crisis. By entirely ignoring the innate human drive for exploitation (Quwwat al-Istikhdam), erasing the innate spiritual inclination toward genuine justice, and severing human agency from its primordial source of creation, the Rawlsian model suffers from a fatal structural paralysis. Ultimately, this study concludes that establishing a sustainable, genuinely just society requires transcending the mechanical limitations of Western material contractarianism. It necessitates a paradigm shift toward reconstructing a Transcendent Fitrah-Based Theory of Justice, wherein the multi-dimensional facets of human existence achieve true equilibrium under the governance of the Sacred Intellect (Intellectus Sanctus). 

Keywords: Nature of Social Life, Theory of Justice, John Rawls, Original Position, Veil of Ignorance, Rational-Calculative Civility (Madaniyyah bi al-Aql), Dispositional Civility (Madaniyyah bi al-Fitrah), Two-Dimensional Anthropology, Autonomous Reason, Sacred Intellect, Drive for Exploitation (Quwwat al-Istikhdam), Eastern-Islamic Philosophy.