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John Rawls Veil Of Ignorance Analysis

852 Words4 Pages

In 1971, A Theory of Justice by John Rawls was published. In this novel, Rawls aims to solve the problem of distributive justice through social contracts. Rawls’ theories center around the unknown for instance Rawl poses the question which principles of justice, or ways of governing would we submit to if we did not know who we were or were going to be. This introduces the concept of the veil of ignorance. The veil of ignorance’s key purpose is to erase from a person’s mind who they are, meaning their race, sex, beliefs, and social class. Rawls theory of Justice relies on two principles, the first Principle of Equal liberties, and the second Difference principle. In today’s society Rawls’s theory of the Veil of Ignorance would better promote …show more content…

Rawl describe the veil of ignorance as a tool that aims to allow people only to know how a general society works, and helps people choose rational principles of justice based on universal morals. Rawls theorized that the veil of ignorance allows people to erase their bias and come to unanimous agreements because no one is in a position to make any principles of justice tailored to the natural lottery of life, in other words the only way one can determine if a choice, or action is moral is if they don’t know how it affect them.

Rawls theory of justice introduces two principles which his theory is dependent on. The first principle states: “each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others” (Rawls 60). The main concept Rawls conveys is that behind the veil of ignorance the individual does not know there advantage so, that person will try to strive towards …show more content…

Healthcare is a prime example of Rawls theory of distributive justice in the everyday world, although the U.S. is still catching up on the idea of universal healthcare, in Europe it is the standard. Citizens that work is taxed a certain percentage every month, while workless citizens are covered through a healthcare program sponsored by their government, which operate off taxes, and donations. Doctors’ visits and test essentially cost nothing for the patient. Although health and health care are not directly covered in Rawls theory of Justice, modern day philosophers and healthcare advocates cite his theories to elevate their arguments. Applying his two principles to Justice to healthcare, as Norman Daniel formulates questions and answers using Rawls theory to which about the morality of universal healthcare like, “Are people entitled to a certain level of healthcare? According to Rawl the answer to this question, to be moral, has to be answer behind the veil of ignorance.
To conclude, A Theory of Justice by John Rawls presents valid and creditable solutions to figuring out what government for a society is the best. These solution can be credited to the principles of justice created behind the veil of ignorance. Although Rawls only applies distributive justice to aspects that were important at the time the theory of justice was written, the concept of distributive justice can be

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