Rawls uses the idea of a veil of ignorance to argue that fair and just distribution can be defended on rational grounds. He says that
if a person keeps herself/himself under the ‘veil of ignorance’ then s/he would come up with the just distribution, fair laws and policies that would affect the whole society.
What is veil of ignorance according to John Rawls?
Rawls suggests that
you imagine yourself in an original position behind a
veil of ignorance. Behind this veil, you know nothing of yourself and your natural abilities, or your position in society. You know nothing of your sex, race, nationality, or individual tastes.
What is the main function of the veil of ignorance in Rawls?
Its purpose is to explore ideas about justice, morality, equality, and social status in a structured manner. The Veil of Ignorance, a component of social contract theory,
allows us to test ideas for fairness
.
What is the meaning of veil of ignorance?
The “veil of ignorance” is
a moral reasoning device designed to promote impartial decision making by denying decision makers access to potentially biasing information
about who will benefit most or least from the available options.
What does John Rawls mean by the veil of ignorance quizlet?
What is the veil of ignorance? Rawls’s
idea that people will develop fair principles of distribution only if they are ignorant of their position in society
, so in order to get objective judgements, the decision makers must not know how the decision would affect him or her.
What is the original position according to Rawls?
Rawls’s original position is
an initial agreement situation wherein the parties are without information that enables them to tailor principles of justice favorable to their personal circumstances
.
What are the two principles of justice by Rawls?
Finally, Rawls ranked his principles of social justice in the order of their priority.
The First Principle (“basic liberties”) holds priority over the Second Principle
. The first part of the Second Principle (“fair equality of opportunity”) holds priority over the second part (Difference Principle).
What defines a good society according to Rawls?
Rawls’s conception of society is defined by
fairness
: social institutions are to be fair to all cooperating members of society, regardless of their race, gender, religion, class of origin, natural talents, reasonable conception of the good life, and so on. Rawls also emphasizes publicity as an aspect of fairness.
What is Rawls theory?
Rawls’s theory of justice
What is the main idea of Rawls theory of justice?
Rawls holds that
justice as fairness
What is the main idea of Rawls theory of justice quizlet?
justice as fairness
What reason does Rawls give for accepting his difference principle quizlet?
Rawls justifies the Difference Principle on the basis that, since
Fair Equality of Opportunity lexical priority
, the Just Choice from Pareto optimal scenarios which could occur would be that benefitting the worst-off rather than the best-off.
What does Rawls mean by reciprocity?
For Rawls, reciprocity always meant
mutual benefit from a fair baseline
, an equal division of social primary goods, not mutual benefit relative to a non-agreement point, as in the mutual advantage tradition.
What is Rawls difference principle?
Rawls’s difference principle requires
that economic systems be organized so that the least advantaged members of society are better off than they would be in any alternative economic arrangement
.
What does Rawls say about utilitarianism?
Rawls defines utilitarianism, for the purpose of his argument, as
the idea that society is just when its major institutions are arranged so as to achieve the greatest net balance of satisfaction summed over all the individuals belonging to it
.
What is injustice according to Rawls?
Injustice could be defined as
a depart from justice
, i.e. from the two principles of justice (Rawls §11 and §14): 1. each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others. 2.
