Rawls and the Kantian Problematic.

John Rawls had a life-long interest in Kant. To provide a new perspective on Rawls's political theory, to facilitate a conversation between Anglo-American and Continental political theorists, and to promote a certain way to be Kantian, I track how Rawls interprets and transforms Kant's contested legacy (or what I call the Kantian problematic). In this essay, I show how Rawls reworks four key moves of the Kantian problematic: the identification of the problem, the engagement with common sense, the construction of principles, and the authentication of principles. In the conclusion, I defend Rawls from the charge -- made by Allan Bloom and Michael Sandel, among others -- that Rawls fundamentally misunderstands or misuses Kant. The basis of my defense is that Rawls considers a critical intellectual sensibility (or ethos), rather than a specific doctrine (e.g., the categorical imperative), as the most valuable component of the Kantian problematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]