NCM108

WEEK 2
RAWLS’ ETHICS
JOHN RAWLS HOW CAN SUCH PRINCIPLES BE UNIVERSALLY
• American moral, legal, and political philosopher in the ADOPTED?
liberal tradition. Rawls received both the Schock Prize for ACTUALIZING RAWLS’ THEORY BY THE NOTION OF:
logic and philosophy and the national humanities medal Veil of ignorance and Original position
in 1999.
• All players in the social game would be placed in a
RAWLS ETHICS hypothetical situation called the: original position
• Rawls's conception of society is defined by fairness: • Rawls suggests that in the Original Position an individual
social institutions are to be fair to all cooperating does not know their sex, race, natural abilities, social
members of society. status, economic conditions, etc. and hide their true
identity behind the Veil of Ignorance.
THEORY OF JUSTICE • Each individual makes a rational prudential choice
• Why clear social inequalities are unjust, and what a just concerning the kind of social institution they would enter
society really is: into contract with
o Politics
• Individuals in the Veil of Ignorance adopt a generalized
o Work of ethics
point of view that bears strong resemblance to a moral
point of view
A THEORY OF JUSTICE
• If everybody in the original position promotes equality =
• a just society is one who conforms to normative rules and
justice as fairness is attained
everyone would agree
• every individual is inviolable
• "Each person posses an inviolability founded on justice
that even the welfare of the state cannot override.
Therefore, the rights secured by justice are not subject
to political bargaining or to the calculus of social
interest.”
– John Rawls

IMPLICATIONS
• Life should NOT be sacrificed for the sake of the majority
directly attacks
o Consequentialist Ethics: Utilitarianism
• Erroneous Theory: Tolerable in the absence of a good
one
o An unjust law is better than no law at all.
• Individual liberties should be restricted in order to
maintain equality of opportunity
o Restrictions through law preserves freedom in
democracy.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE

THE EQUAL LIBERTY PRINCIPLE
• Equal access to basic human needs
• Liberty
• Rights
• The right of each person to have the extensive basic
liberty compatible with the liberty of others
o Right to life
o Right to vote
o Right to speech
o Right to peaceable assembly

THE DIFFERENCE PRINCIPLE

• Everyone’s advantage
• Open to all
• Emphasizes the idea of fair equality of opportunity and
the equal distribution of socio-economic activities

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