Full Idea
For the liberal concept of justice we must stand to our circumstances always at a certain distance, whether as transcendental subject in the case of Kant, or as unencumbered selves in the case of Rawls.
Clarification
By 'unencumbered' he means without social commitments
Gist of Idea
Liberal justice means the withdrawal of the self, as transcendental or as unencumbered
Source
Michael J. Sandel (Procedural republic and unencumbered self [1984], 'Transcendental')
Book Reference
Sandel,Michael J.: 'Public Philosophy: Essays' [Harvard 2005], p.163
A Reaction
Maybe the only way to be unencumbered is to be transcendental. There is an insecure feeling that if the self becomes immanent or encumbered it thereby loses its objective rationality. You wake up one morning and find you are a nazi?