Rawl’s Veil of Ignorance

Rawl’s Veil of Ignorance John Rawl, A Theory of Justice Utilitarianism Fairness is fundamental idea in concept of justice Cases of fairness Easy = arithmetic fairness Veil of Ignorance Uses “original position” to determine outcomes Two primary principles formulated “behind the veil” John Rawls (1921 – 2002) = leading figure in moral and political philosophy Book (1971) was considered the most important work in moral philosophy since the end of WW II Was the alternative to utilitarianism! (greatest happiness for most people) Use fairness to determine justice Easy cases = quantity Everyone in same union doing same work gets 10% raise 3 wrong on a test = same grade Each child get same number of cookies at a party Veil of ignorance for harder cases: When faced with more inherent or essential inequalities Graduated tax scale = deemed acceptable to society even though teachers may only pay 15% of income to taxes while editors, advertisers, PR staff and film producers could pay 33 – 35% of income to tax When social contracts are inherently unequal, blind averages are unfair, and intuitional judgments are too prone to error

Additional notes on Rawl Participants step behind veil into “original position” Behind barrier were roles and social differentiations are eliminated = no race, gender, class, group interests etc Considered equal members of society as whole No one knows how well they would fair when out from behind the veil Rawl argues that we inevitably seek to protect the weaker party and minimize risks since more vulnerable party receives priority, Rawls believes it’s a just resolution Two principles of social contract formulated behind the veil Maximal system of equal basic liberty Every person must have largest political liberty compatible if all persons have the same amount Liberty has priority over economic or social advantages b/c can never be traded When considering anything other than liberty Allows inequality in distribution as long as act to benefit the least advantaged party Inequalities in power, wealth, and income agreed on must benefit members of society who are worse off

Behind the veil Remove all known qualifiers from both Attempt to create a working relationship agreeable to both after the veil is parted Stark advisory notions would disappear No agreement that elected officials should be called the enemy or liars bc those who emerge as politicians would resent labels Independence, toughness, and persistence would be deemed reasonable for media professionals but basic respect for all humans should replace the unmitigated and cynical abrasiveness among those wielding the instrument of power called news dissemination