Rawls and justice as fairness
What is justice? What does it mean for one distribution of income or wealth to be more “just” than another distribution?
Today we will address these questions from the perspective of A Theory of Justice, a landmark work of political philosophy written by John Rawls in 1971. Before class, you should watch this quick video introducing the key points of this perspective.
Key points from Rawls
The notion of justice as fairness that Rawls puts forth is procedural: a just distribution is one that would be chosen under a fair procedure.
Rawls argues that a fair procedure for choosing a just society is one in which none of us knows our own place within society—a setting he calls the original position. The original position formalizes the notion that whether a distribution is just should not depend on my own position within that distribution.
From the original position, Rawls argues that we would choose two principles of justice
- Equality of liberty: “each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others” (p. 60)
Difference principle: “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” (p. 60)
We will discuss the original position and the two principles that Rawls thinks would be chosen in this setting.