Rediscovery of John Rawls's early interest in theology has recently prompted readings of his philosophical project as a secularized response to earlier theological questions. Intellectual historians have meanwhile begun to historicize Rawls's use of contemporary philosophical resources and his engagement with economic theory. In this article I argue that what held together Rawls's evolving interest in postwar political economy and his commitment to philosophy as reconciliation was his understanding of the need for secular theodicy. In placing Rawls in the intellectual context of a postwar political economy of growth as well as in relation to the history of political thought, including his reading of that history, I defend two claims. First, I argue that Rawls's philosophical ambition is best understood as providing a secular reconciliatory theodicy. Second, I suggest that Rawls's theodicy was initially rendered plausible by the economic background conditions of economic growth that were fractured and fragmented just as Rawls's book was published in 1971. This divergence between text and context helps to account for Rawls's peculiar reception and his own subsequent attempt to insist on the applicability of his theory under radically altered circumstances.

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增长的神学：约翰·罗尔斯、政治经济学和合理的信仰

对约翰·罗尔斯早期对神学的兴趣的重新发现最近促使人们将他的哲学项目解读为对早期神学问题的世俗化回应。与此同时，思想史学家开始将罗尔斯对当代哲学资源的使用以及他对经济理论的参与历史化。在本文中，我认为将罗尔斯对战后政治经济学不断发展的兴趣和他对哲学作为和解的承诺结合在一起的是他对世俗神学必要性的理解。在将罗尔斯置于战后增长的政治经济的知识背景以及与政治思想史的关系中，包括他对那段历史的解读，我为两个主张辩护。首先，我认为罗尔斯的 最好将他的哲学野心理解为提供一种世俗的和解的神学。其次，我认为罗尔斯的神学理论最初是因为经济增长的经济背景条件是合理的，正如罗尔斯的书在 1971 年出版时那样支离破碎。这种文本和背景之间的差异有助于解释罗尔斯的特殊接受和他自己的后续试图坚持他的理论在彻底改变的情况下的适用性。