Biographical Context & Historical Significance
Birth & Death: Born in Baltimore, USA (1921); died in Lexington, Massachusetts (2002) at age 81.
Career:
- American philosopher
- Professor at Harvard University
- Reclusive but highly influential
- Dominated 20th-century Anglo-American political philosophy
Key Works:
- A Theory of Justice (1971): His masterwork; most influential political philosophy book of second half of 20th century
- Political Liberalism (1993): Development and refinement of theory
- The Law of Peoples (2001): Application to international relations
- Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (2001): Restatement for clarity
- Numerous articles on specific topics
Influence: Revived political philosophy after decades of decline; shaped contemporary liberalism; influenced constitutional design; focused on fairness and equality; still deeply debated.
Core Philosophical Framework
The Problem Rawls Addresses
The fundamental political problem:
- Modern societies are pluralistic (diverse moral, religious, philosophical views)
- Citizens disagree deeply about the good life
- Yet they must live together and have a shared government
- How can we design a just society given this disagreement?
Rawls' question: What principles of justice would all citizens accept as fair, regardless of their specific religious or philosophical beliefs?
The Veil of Ignorance and Original Position
The Original Position: A Thought Experiment
Setup: Imagine a group of people choosing principles of justice for a society they will live in, but with one crucial constraint.
The Veil of Ignorance: The choosers don't know:
- Their position in society (rich or poor, talented or not, healthy or sick)
- Their race, gender, or sexual orientation
- Their religion, philosophy, or conception of the good life
- Their natural abilities or disabilities
- Even what generation they'll be born into
- Or what culture and historical period
Knowledge they retain:
- General facts about society (economics, psychology, human nature)
- That they have interests and desires (general knowledge)
- That they want primary goods (rights, liberties, income, respect)
Why the Veil of Ignorance?
The purpose: Ensure fairness and impartiality.
The reasoning:
- Without knowing your position, you can't favor yourself
- You must choose principles that are fair to anyone, in any position
- This forces impartial thinking
Analogy: Like cutting a cake blindfolded—if you don't know which slice you'll get, you'll cut fairly
Result: People behind the veil will choose principles that:
- Protect basic rights and liberties for all
- Allow inequalities only if they benefit the least-off
- Ensure fair opportunity
- These are the principles of justice
The Original Position vs. State of Nature
Difference from Hobbes/Locke:
- Not a historical claim about pre-social humans
- Not claiming humans actually made such a contract
- A hypothetical device for thinking about fairness
- If we imagine rational people choosing impartially, what would they choose?
Two Principles of Justice
Rawls' Main Conclusion
Behind the veil of ignorance, rational people would choose two principles:
First Principle: Equal Basic Liberties
Statement: Each person has equal right to the most extensive basic liberties compatible with similar liberties for all.
Basic liberties include:
- Freedom of conscience and thought
- Freedom of association
- Political rights (vote, run for office)
- Freedom of speech and assembly
- Rights to property and contract
- Due process rights
Key features:
- Equal for all
- Not to be traded away for social benefits
- Cannot be restricted to benefit others
- These liberties are inalienable
Priority: The first principle has priority over the second (cannot violate basic rights even for economic benefit)
Second Principle: Just Distribution of Resources and Opportunities
The second principle has two parts:
A) Fair Equality of Opportunity
Statement: Social and economic inequalities must be attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity.
Meaning:
- Jobs and positions cannot be reserved for certain groups
- Everyone must have fair chance to compete
- Not just formal equality (legal permission) but substantive equality
- Address background inequalities (poverty, discrimination) that prevent real opportunity
Example:
- A poor child and rich child might both be "formally" allowed to be doctors
- But the poor child lacks resources, school quality, tutoring to become competitive
- Real equality of opportunity requires addressing these disparities
B) The Difference Principle
Statement: Social and economic inequalities are justified only if they benefit the least-advantaged members of society.
Meaning:
- Inequality is allowed if the worst-off are better under that inequality than under equality
- A talented surgeon can earn more if:
- The incentive leads them to be a surgeon (benefiting patients)
- The taxes on high earnings benefit the poor
- The net effect helps the least-off better than equality would
- Inequality is not justified merely to reward the talented
- Inequality must be justified by benefit to the least-well-off
Rationale:
- Behind the veil of ignorance, you might be the least-off
- You'd want a system that maximizes your position
- You'd accept inequality only if it benefits you (in that position)
The Difference Principle Illustrated
Example: Medical school