John Rawls — "We are not trying to find a theory that explains our considered judgments of jus…"

"The principles of justice are to be publicly recognized as regulating the basic structure of society."

"The duty of civility requires us to explain how our political positions can be supported by the values of public reason."

"The idea of a liberal democracy is that citizens are free and equal and have a right to participate in the political process."

"The idea of reflective equilibrium is a state of affairs where one has considered various proposed principles and has revised one's judgments and principles until they cohere."

"The principles of justice are ranked in lexical order."