Ackerman, B. (1980) Social Justice in Liberal State, Yale University Press, New Haven – frequently mentioned piece by one of Rawls's most important followers, written in the ingenious form of a dialogue.

Arthur, J. /Shaw, W.H. (eds.) (1991) Justice and Economic Distribution, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ – very useful set of texts including the most significant pages from the works of major theoreticians of the just division of wealth.

Barry, B. (1989) Theories of Justice, Harvester-Wheatsheaf, London – a sophisticated interpretation of Rawls, one which is trying to emphasize what makes this thinker so original and important, and to remove some of the inconsistent aspects of his work.

Barry, B. (1991) Liberty and Justice, Clarendon Press, Oxford – a collection of lucid essays dealing with the problem of political justice.

Barry, B. (1993) Justice as Impartiality, Oxford University Press – further elaboration of results that the author has developed through his analysis of Rawls’ philosophy and the examination of nearly entire modern political thought in this terms.

Cohen, G.A. (1995) Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality, Cambridge University Press – a collection of texts dedicated to continual criticism of Nozick’s theory of distributive justice. It contains maybe the best objections that have ever been directed to that thinker.

Cohen, G.A. (2000) If You’re an Egalitarian, How Come You’re So Rich?, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA – the last few chapters of this book very convincingly criticize Rawls from the egalitarian point of view. Over the last couple of years this criticism has been in the center of discussion about distributive justice.

Dworkin, R. (2000) Sovereign Virtue, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA – a collection of Dworkin’s key texts that have frequently been quoted and are trying to give a new basis for liberal egalitarianism, removing some of the drawbacks of the Rawls’s approach. This is a bit more difficult piece of reading.

Gauthier, D. (1986) Morals by Agreement, Clarendon Press, Oxford – undoubtedly the fundamental modern text based on Hobbes’ type of tradition in political philosophy. The overall morality is deducted from the agreement achieved between fully rational individuals whose only concern is their own interest and nothing else.

Hayek, F.A. (1960) The Constitution of Liberty, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London – one of the classical works of political philosophy, clearly stating the basic characteristics of classical liberalism and stressing the dangers of various reforms steering this system slowly into socialism.

Hayek, F.A. (1982) Law, Legislation, and Liberty, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London – a more recent formulation of ideas introduced in the earlier, classical Hayek’s book. The author was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economy and is a passionate advocate of individual freedom.

Kolm, S.C. (1996) Modern Theories of Justice, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA – an original and ample analysis of the modern theories of distributive justice, written from the perspective of economic reflection. A text that is comprehensive and very demanding.

Kukathas, C. /Pettit, P. (1990) Rawls, Polity Press, Cambridge – very clear and focused introduction into Rawls’s thought. It is warmly recommended to beginners in political philosophy before reading the works of Rawls himself.

Kymlicka, W. (1990) Contemporary Political Philosophy, Clarendon Press, Oxford – probably the best and the most extensive critical overview of modern political philosophy. All presented theories are primarily shown through their views on the problem of distributive justice.

Miller, D. /Walzer, M. (eds.) (1995) Pluralism, Justice, and Equality, Oxford University Press – a collection of the most significant works dedicated to the defense and criticism of Walzer’s theory of distributive justice.

Miller, D. (1999) Principles of Social Justice, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA – an attempt at further elaboration of the pluralistic theory of the just distribution of Walzer’s type, founded largely on the empirical research of what people think about justice.

Munzer, S. (1990) A Theory of Property, Cambridge University Press – one of the basic modern discussions on the problem of the justification of private property.

Nagel, T. (1991) Equality and Partiality, Oxford University Press – a book which exemplifies the political deliberations of this distinctive representative of egalitarian liberalism.

Narveson, J. (1988) The Libertarian Idea, Temple University Press, Philadelphia – after Nozick’s book this is probably the most important philosophical defense of minimal state and free market. It sets off from a different starting point since it is based upon the results achieved by David Gauthier.

Nozick, R. (1974) Anarchy, State, and Utopia, Basic Books, New York – the second most essential work of contemporary political philosophy. It represents a passionate and witty defense of minimal state and free market. This is a text one must not fail to read.

Paul, J. (ed.) (1981) Reading Nozick, Basil Blackwell, Oxford – a collection of the first critical reactions to Nozick’s political philosophy. It contains some of the classical works.

Pogge, T.W. (1989) Realizing Rawls, Cornell University Press, Ithaca – one of the most significant works written by Rawls’s followers. It contains an attempt at defense of his philosophy from the numerous objections it has been exposed to. Not an easy reading.

Rawls, J. (1971) A Theory of Justice, Oxford University Press - without the least doubt, the fundamental work of modern political philosophy which was the starting point for all of today’s discussions on the problem of just social system. It defends the standpoint of liberal egalitarianism. Prior to reading of this extensive and difficult work, it is better to read through some of the more popular introductions into Rawls’s philosophy.

Rawls, J. (1993) Political Liberalism, Columbia University Press – a book in which Rawls gives the modified version of his theory, trying to show that it does not seek any suspicious metaphysical foundations but has a purely political nature. Many philosophers comment this work as a setback in comparison with the earlier formulation of his theory. It is very difficult to follow this text if the reader is not already familiar with Rawls’ work.

Rawls, J. (1999) Collected Papers, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA – a collection of the all Rawls’s essays. Particularly significant are the ones written after A Theory of Justice because they contain many clarifications of the basic position and the responses to various criticisms.

Roemer, J. (1996) Theories of Distributive Justice, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA – written from the viewpoint of analytical Marxism and defended with the abundant usage of mathematical apparatus.

Sandel, M. (1982) Liberalism and the Limits of Justice, Cambridge University Press – one of the most important criticisms of Rawls’ philosophy ever composed, written from the communitarian point of view. Requires patient reading.

Sen, A.K. (1992) Inequality Reexamined, Clarendon Press, Oxford – a work which in a clear and relatively focused manner condenses the vital thoughts on the best variation of egalitarianism of this Nobel Prize winner for Economy.

Waldron, J. (1988) The Right to Private Property, Clarendon Press, Oxford – highly praised book about the problem of justification of private property, which was stirred up again when Nozick revived Locke’s classical theory on that question.

Walzer, M. (1983) Spheres of Justice, Basic Books, New York – an unorthodox theory of just distribution that criticizes the division of various social goods according to the unique criterion and asks for numerous criteria to be introduced, each specific for a type of goods. A piece of work that is clearly written and substantiated with historical examples.

Titles printed in bold letters refer to the literature crucial for the problem of righteous distribution.

Preparation: Neven Petrovic