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John Rawls' Theory of Justice has been the most influential treatment of normative political philosophy published in the last 30 years. Dozens of other authors have felt obligated to state their position on Rawls' theory.

Rawls proposed two principles of justice:

First: each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others.
Second: social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both (a) reasonably expected to be to everyone's advantage, and (b) attached to positions and offices open to all….
These principles are to be arranged in a serial order with the first principle prior to the second.

To argue for these two principles, Rawls proposed that it was reasonable to accept principles adopted in a suitable "original position."

The intuitive idea of justice as fairness is to think of the first principles of justice as themselves the object of an original agreement in a suitably defined initial situation. These principles are those which rational persons concerned to advance their interests would accept in this position of equality to settle the basic terms of their association….
The idea of the original position is to set up a fair procedure so that any principles agreed to will be just. The aim is to use the notion of pure procedural justice as a basis of theory. Somehow we must nullify the effects of specific contingencies which put men at odds and tempt them to exploit social and natural circumstances to their own advantage. Now in order to do this I assume that the parties are situated behind a veil of ignorance.

Rawls' views have been the subject of much discussion. For example, Robert Nozick criticized them from the libertarian right. Michael Sandel criticized them from a communitarian perspective. R. M. Hare criticized them from a utilitarian perspective.

Reference: John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, p. 60-61, 118, 136. See also Robert Nozick Anarchy, State, and Utopia and Michael Sandel Liberalism and Limits of Justice.