COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A

GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: JOHN RAWLS’ DISTRIBUTIVE
ODISHA JUSTICE (WEEK 4)
INSTRUCTOR(S): DR. SREELEKHA

JOHN RAWLS’ DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE

KEY CONCEPTS:
a. The Original Position
b. Justice as fairness
c. Veil of Ignorance
d. The Principles of Justice
INTRODUCTION
The work of John Rawls, an influential US philosopher, bridges the differences in thoughts
between the modern liberals and the social democrats. His classic book titled A Theory of
Justice (1972) has contributed immensely to the discourse of justice. The answer to a
fundamental question, i.e., how a society can ensure justice to its citizens was attempted in
the book by John Rawls. According to him, there is a need for a principle in order to establish
justice. In addition, he proposed the establishment of institutions that can address the
problems of social inequality. Some of the other questions that were highlighted in the book
are what does the initial state of social equality look like?" and "what are the principles to
operate social equality"? The book has described the contours of a well-ordered society and
delineated the goals to establish and maintain a well-ordered society.

A set of a social contract (tacit agreements) forms the basis of society. These agreements are
basically the agreed-upon principles which according to Rawls must be independent of one's
position in society. Rawls believed that individuals are rational beings, having self-interest
maximization motives and roughly has similar needs. According to Rawls, two principles
guide individuals' moral interactions. Rawls subsequently proposed a theory termed as
"Justice as Fairness". The theory sets out two main principles: (1) Principle of liberty and (2)
principle of equality. According to the principle of liberty, everyone has the right to claim
basic liberties and rights. On the other hand, the principle of equality is based on the idea of
"distributive justice". Distributive justice describes the fairness in the distribution of the
resources and privileges in society.

The core component of the above two principles was Rawls’ original position’, i.e., the
thought experiment.
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: JOHN RAWLS’ DISTRIBUTIVE
ODISHA JUSTICE (WEEK 4)
INSTRUCTOR(S): DR. SREELEKHA

According to Rawls, in the

thought experiment, the
principles of justice are decided
from behind the ‘Veil of
Ignorance’. Rawls claimed that
‘Veil’is important for the society.
It conceals all the factors that are responsible for settingthe society apart, for example, things
such as status, wealth and talent. The concealmenthelps in taking decisions without any bias
or predisposed favours. Rawls believed that principles of liberty, equality and justice would
help in achieving a consensual social contract. So, how does Rawls’ ‘original position’ play
out on a smaller scale?