Abstract:
Despite its complexity and its systematic treatment of fundamental
rights and their importance in ensuring individuals’ participation in social life, A Theory of Justice, the magnum opus of American philosopher
John Rawls does not provide deeper insights into the issue of healthcare
rights. Various readings of Rawls’s work from the perspective of healthcare
rights are worth noting, perhaps the most important contribution being
that of Norman Daniels, who maintains that healthcare rights are a means
to ensure fair equality of opportunity, explicitly included by Rawls in the
principles of justice that parties in the Original Position choose. The presentation will provide an outline of the theoretical framework whereby one
can understand healthcare rights in a just society, and will then focus by
some dilemmas stemming from Norman Daniels’s interpretation.