Rawls and Bleeding Heart Libertarianism

In 1971, Harvard University philosopher John Rawls put forth an innovative argument for the welfare state, but today a new crop of thinkers invokes Rawls to justify a libertarian society. Their project is intriguing, but it is doubtful that these self-described “bleeding heart libertarians” can count on a Rawlsian framework to provide robust support for inviolable liberty.