ipl-logo

Analysis Of John Rawls 'Veil Of Ignorance'

1379 Words6 Pages

John Rawls is probably the most influential political philosopher of the 20th century. His well-known difference principles, as well as the "Veil of Ignorance" not only show on the textbook of any students study politics but are also frequently cited by politicians in public debates. However, the Rawlsian theory of justice has received many critics as well. One thing that is attacked most, is the fact that the whole theory is mainly based on assumptions of an ideal society. It is seen as problematic by many scholars. Some, for example, think that a theory describing perfect just societies cannot tell us what kind of society is more desirable in real life. Some others critics that the assumption does not relate to reality since it neglects so many inequalities and injustice in the world like gender and race discriminations, thus cannot help to prove the society. People may also question the "Original Position" and "Veil of Ignorance" because it is impossible to happen in reality. Then, does it means all Rawls has suggested are inane and do not worth study? I would argue that the theory on ideal justices is necessary for the study of politics. First of all, the study of ideal justice provides us the criteria and …show more content…

Such criteria and order of different priorities are also needed to compare the less just societies in reality. Because without a concrete standard, we cannot make decisions among societies that are specialized on different aspects of "justice". Only if we know the ranking of these aspects can we decide which society is more desirable. In other words, the theory of justice is valuable for it provides us an order that enables us to make judgments between non-perfect society during its exploration of a perfect

Show More
Related

Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

689 Words | 3 Pages

[3]In a thought experiment proposed by philosopher John Rawls, individuals are asked to imagine designing a just society under a veil of ignorance, a concept urging people to prioritize fairness and equality since they can't predict whether their social structures will advantage or disadvantage them. Similarly, [4]Dr. King stresses a fair and harmonious society in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," except that he focuses on solving existing problems rather than creating a whole new society. The most fundamental difference between Dr. King and John Rawls is that Dr. King confronts a real problem that exists in a real society. In contrast, John Rawls only proposes a theoretical solution.

Read More

Egalitarianism In Obamacare

1048 Words | 5 Pages

The natural distribution is neither just nor unjust; nor is it unjust that persons are born in society at some particular position” (Sandel 165). Rawls points out that our society has chosen to ignore the issue of inequity most of the time, so long that the effects of this indifference do not hurt their positions. Moreover, what Rawls has described in this quote is very much evident in our society. The citizens on top–especially upper class white males–have the power to pretend the inequities in American society don’t exist, therefore making our society unjust. More

Read More

Hobbes Vs Rawls Analysis

1591 Words | 7 Pages

Political theorists, whether they are realists, or liberalists, over the centuries, have come into conflict over what they believe to be the utmost important task of the state. Hobbes believes the most important task of the state is to ensure law and order, rooting his argument in the idea of a sovereign ruler. On the other hand, Rawls, a modern theorist, firmly believes that a state should focus on realising justice within their society. While a utopian society cannot be achieved by either of these theories, I will highlight why Rawls was right in his assumption that the main focus of a state should be to ensure justice for all within their nation, through analysing and comparing the conflicting arguments of Hobbes and Rawls.

Read More

The Role Of Justice In The Confucius's Analects

733 Words | 3 Pages

Writing Assignment 2 To begin with, the notion of justice changed during the second wave of civilization building from 1000 BCE to 500 CE. During the second wave of civilization people living in Han Dynasty, China and the city-state Athens along with people subscribing to early Christianity were suffering, so a new long-lasting idea about what is considered freedom and justice was taken into consideration for it. It is understood how people living in those past times perceive the notion of justice through documented evidence such as the Confucius’s Analects, Aristotle Politics, and the Gospel of Matthew. These documents historically identified numerous reasons as to why certain events occurred to make fairness among the population providing

Read More

Pros And Cons Of Procedural Justice System

1473 Words | 6 Pages

They used the concept of procedural justice to describe the fairness of the process by which decisions are made by authorities as opposed to distributive justice which is the fairness of the decisions themselves. Since then an impressive body of research in social, legal, and organizational settings has demonstrated that people place a significant value on the fairness of the process by which outcomes are achieved (MacCoun, 2005). Two explanations have been offered for this phenomenon: an instrumental perspective and a noninstrumental

Read More

John Rawls's View Of Social Justice In Society

1290 Words | 6 Pages

Rawls was dissatisfied with the traditional philosophical arguments about what makes a social institution just and about what justifies political or social actions and policies. The utilitarian argument holds that societies should pursue the greatest good for the greatest number. This argument has a number of problems, including, especially, that it seems to be consistent with the idea of the tyranny of majorities over minorities. The intuitionist argument holds that humans intuit what is right or wrong by some innate moral sense. This is also problematic because it simply explains away justice by saying that people “know it when they see it,” and it fails to deal with the many conflicting human intuitions.

Read More

Summary Of The Best Gift Of My Life By Annie Dillard

300 Words | 2 Pages

In the passage by Annie Dillard, she writes about a moth who was restrained in a jar, then when it is set free, it is unable to fly. In the story “The Best Gift of my Life,” Cynthia Rylant lives in a rundown apartment with her mother. She dreams of a better life. While she is in her small hometown, called Beaver, she feels smart, pretty and fun. This is similar to the moth being comfortable in the glass jar, because it has not been exposed to anything else all it’s life Whenever Cynthia leaves Beaver she feels like she is a nobody: “But as soon as I left town to go anywhere else, me sense of being somebody special evaporated into nothing, and I became dull and ugly and poor”.

Read More

Veil Of Ignorance

800 Words | 4 Pages

John Rawls maxim of theory is visible where the people here, especially the young ones are behind the veil of ignorance. They are ignorant of their real position in the society that they intend to enter into contract with the associations they think are good or right. For example, the Runts who are

Read More

Thomas Hobbes, By John Locke, And Jean-Jacques Rousseau

1114 Words | 5 Pages

Benjamin Kielhold Phil-220 Prompt 3 John Rawls was a twentieth century philosopher who authored a thought provoking book known as, A Theory of Justice. He was heavily influenced by past philosopher’s such as: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, for motivation and ideas for his beliefs while modeling this theory. The basis of his theory is the concept of equality and freedom directly clashing. Rawls argues strongly of two general principles for his theory of justice that help structure the world that we live in. He uses these principles coupled with a veil of ignorance to imagine how the rules of society should be structured in a fair and non-biased manner.

Read More

Veil Of Ignorance Essay

723 Words | 3 Pages

The Veil of Ignorance by John Rawls is one of the most important philosophical ideas of the twentieth century. An acceptable society is built on the Veil of Ignorance. Rawls says that we should figure out what justice means by building a community from the ground up in a way everyone can accept. So, we have to imagine ourselves before any society exists. The best way to think about justice is to pretend that we are starting a new society from scratch.

Read More

John Rawls: The Benefits Of Natural Talents

913 Words | 4 Pages

John Rawls believed that if certain individuals had natural talents, they did not always deserve the benefits that came with having these abilities. Instead, Rawls proposed, these inherent advantages should be used to benefit others. Although Rawls makes an excellent argument on why this should be the case, not all philosophers agreed with his reasoning, especially Robert Nozick. Nozick believed in distributing benefits in a fair manner in accordance with the Entitlement Theory, which has three subsections: Just Acquisition, Just Transfer and Just Rectification.

Read More

Hate Crime Definition

1232 Words | 5 Pages

Hate crime has always been the thorniest issues facing most societies that labor to strike a balance between the freedom of expressing distasteful opinions and the right not to be victimized and prejudiced because of expressing oneself; bearing in mind that the right to freedom of opinion and expression is a fundamental right which safeguards the exercise of all other rights and is a critical underpinning of democracy. It is a complex nexus to determine the end of freedom of expression and the beginning of hate crime. If uttered words results in inciting unlawful acts, breach of social order and brings revolt and pain numerous vital aspects of social and individual interests will be adversely affected . Hate crime has through

Read More

Research Paper On John Rawls

1353 Words | 6 Pages

“ The basis of equality is taken to be similarity in these two respects, systems of ends are not ranked in value; and each man is presumed to have the requisite ability to understand and to have the requisite ability to understand and act upon whatever principles are adopted”. He theorizes that in order for society to thrive, all citizens should have the same basic liberties granted to them. Rawls makes the argument that although our society makes the act of justice important, it’s still unjust due to not all conditions in our society being made by fair agreements. Rawls argues that “Justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others”. In other words, in order for justice to be reached some may have to give up more in order for the general population to be balanced and

Read More

What Is Ethical In The Movie Ethical

1707 Words | 7 Pages

V. Rawl’s Theory of Justice When all information is known by all and everyone is trackable, everyone has the right to privacy eliminated and disrupted. However, not all of the citizens either have Circle’s product or gave permission to have all of their information out in the open. As a result of the above argument, Rawls’s Theory of Justice does not support having cameras everywhere, being able to track anyone and having personal information public. VI. Rule Utilitarian

Read More

Overall Well Being Consequentialism Essay

589 Words | 3 Pages

In its simplest form, consequentialism requires that one maximizes the overall well being of any situation whenever possible. Consequentialism also promotes impartiality and moral flexibility. In other words, consequentialism treats everyone as equals and allows for more wiggle room when it comes to breaking certain moral rules as long as the means justify the ends. Although there is no exact way to calculate the overall well being, John Stuart Mill suggested that we focus on “the greatest good for the greatest number” (Shafer-Landau 122). On the surface, consequentialism may seem like a viable moral theory.

Read More

More about Analysis Of John Rawls 'Veil Of Ignorance'

Related Topics

Open Document