6. Rawls Theory of Justice

1JohnRawlsonSocialJusticeJohnRawls’TheoryofJustice2JohnRawls’TheoryofJusticeHowshouldresourcesbedistributedinasociety?Ifthedistributionistobejust,whatconditionsmustbemet?OneofthemostimportantanswerstotheaboveproblemisJohnRawls’answer.3JohnRawls’theorybelongstothetraditionofLiberalism.Liberalismisatheorywhichgiveshighimportancetotheindividual’sfreedoms(orrights),suchasthefreedomsofspeech,religion,andassociation,andwhichinsiststhatthestateshouldnotintrudeintotheareaoftheindividual’sfreedoms,exceptforthepreventionofharmstoothers.LiberalismisavenerabletraditionintheWest.ItsadvocatesincludeJohnLocke,JohnStuartMill,theFoundingFathersofUSA,IsaiahBerlin,JohnRawls,andRobertNozick,etc.Generallyspeaking,Westernnations,suchasHolland,followliberalism.4AccordingtoRawls,ifthedistributionofresourcesinasocietyistobejust,thefollowingconditionsmustbemet:(1)Eachpersonistohaveanequalrighttothemostextensivebasiclibertycompatiblewithasimilarsystemoflibertyforall.(TheLibertyPrinciple)(2)Socialandeconomicinequalitiesaretobearrangedsothattheyareboth:(a)tothegreatestbenefitoftheleastadvantaged(TheDifferencePrinciple);(b)attachedtotheofficesandpositionsopentoallunderconditionsoffairequalityofopportunity(TheFairOpportunityPrinciple).(3)TheLibertyPrinciplehasahigherprioritythantheothertwoprinciples,andtheFairOpportunityPrinciplehasahigherprioritythantheDifferencePrinciple.5NotethatRawls’principlesgiveimportancetobothnegativeandpositivefreedoms.Rawls’principlesemphasizethefirstgenerationhumanrightsandthesecondgenerationhumanrights.6Rawlsprovidestwoargumentstosupporthistheoryofjustice:thehypotheticalcontractargumentandthereflectiveequilibriumargument.7TheHypotheticalContractArgument(1)PeopleintheoriginalpositionwouldchooseRawls’principlesofjusticetoregulatetheirsociety.(2)Thenormsorprincipleschosenbypeopleintheoriginalpositiontoregulatetheirsocietywouldbereasonableandcorrect.Hence,(3)Rawls’principlesofjusticearereasonableandcorrectprinciplesofjustice.8Intheargument,Rawlstriestoshowthathisprinciplesofjusticeareprincipleswhichrational,objectiveandfairpeoplewouldliketoadopttoregulatetheirsociety.Thisisawayofshowingthathisprinciplesarereasonableandcorrect.9TheConceptofOriginalPosition--Theterm“originalposition”referstothehypotheticalsituationthathasthefollowingcharacteristics:(a)Thepersoninthissituationareplacedbehindaveilofignorancewhichmakesthemunawareoftheirparticularcircumstances.(b)Thepersonsinthissituationdonotknowtheirplaceinsociety,ortheirclassposition.Theyareignorantoftheirsocialstatus.(c)Thepersonsinthissituationdonotknowtheirgender.(d)Thepersonsinthissituationdonotknowtheirrace.10(e)Thepersonsinthissituationareignorantoftheirpossessionofnaturalassets(i.e.theirabilitiesandstrengths).(f)Theydonotknowtheirsubstantialconceptionsofthegood.(g)Theydonotknowtheirspecialpsychologicalpropensities.(h)Theydonotknowtheeconomicandpoliticalsituation,thecivilization,orthecultureoftheirsociety.11(i)Theyhaveathin(minimum)conceptionofthegood—theywantprimarygoods(i.e.liberties,opportunities,wealth,income,andthesocialbasesofself-respect),andtheyprefermoreprimarygoodstofewer.(Theprimarygoods,Rawlsthinks,arewhatrationalpeoplewantandthesegoodsareneutralbetweendifferentsubstantialconceptionsofthegood.Indeedtheyareall-purposemeanstoone’spersonalends.)(j)Theyarefreeandrational.(Arationalpersonisonewhowouldtakethemostefficientmeanstoachievehisends.)12(k)Theyaremutuallydisinterestedandconcernedonlytofurthertheirowninterests.(l)Theyknowthatrealpeopleinsocietyhaveasenseofjusticeandarecapableofhavingasubstantialconceptionofthegood.(m)Theyknowthattheirsocietyisinthe‘circumstancesofjustice’(i.e.circumstancesbetweenscarcityandabundance—likethecircumstancesofthedevelopedWesternnations).13Rawlsdesignsathoughtexperiment(theexperimentoftheoriginalposition)toshowthatRawls’principlesareprincipleswhichpeoplewhoarerational,objectiveandfairwouldprefertoadopttoregulatetheirsociety.14Rawls’ReasonsforPremise(1)WhywouldpeopleintheoriginalpositionchooseRawls’principlesofjusticetoregulatetheirsociety?15ReasonswhypersonsintheoriginalpositionwouldchoosetheLibertyPrincipleTheywouldchoosetheLibertyPrinciplebecauseiftheydidnot,theywouldbeeithertodiscriminateagainstacertaingroup,ortoacceptdiminishedlibertyforall.Theywouldnotdiscriminateagainstacertaingroup,fortheydonotknowwhichgroupstheybelongto.Alsotheywouldnotchoosetodiminisheveryone’sliberty,sincelibertyisaprimarygood,andsincetheywantasmuchprimarygoodsaspossible.Therefore,personsintheoriginalpositionwouldchooseRawls’LibertyPrinciple.16ReasonswhypersonsintheoriginalpositionwouldchoosetheDifferencePrinciplea)Theywouldnotacceptstrictegalitarianism(i.e.equaldistributionofgoodsamongallcitizens),forthiswouldleavenoroomforincentive.Somepeoplewouldworkmuchharderiftheyknowthattheywillgetextrarewardsfortheirhardwork.Thehardworkofthesepeoplewillbenefitothercitizens,fortherewillbemorejobs,moreinvestments,andmoreresourcesforsocialwelfare.Ifaninequalitycanbenefiteveryone(especiallythepoor)morethananequalitycando,thenitisirrationaltoobj