Ethics of rights and justice - Social Contract Theory - Veil of ignorance
3 important questions on Ethics of rights and justice - Social Contract Theory - Veil of ignorance
As we are not necessarily aware of the hypothetical agreement of a social contract, John Rawls has come with a popular approach to determining a just social contract in his book A Theory of Justice. What is his starting point here?
People must imagine themselves behind a 'veil of ignorance': people do not know what role or situation they themselves will occupy in society.
What does the 'veil of ignorance' force people to be?
Forces people to be fair and impartial in their judgement about how to organize society, because they need to do so from the perspective of all people simultaneously.
What are the two criteria which Rawls believes all rational self-interested people behind a veil of ignorance would arrive at?
- Each person has an equal right to the most extensive total system of basic liberties;
- Social and economic inequalities are arranged so that they are both:
- to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged - known as the 'difference principle'
- 'principle of equal opportunity'
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