John Rawls Theory Of Justice Summary

John Rawls’s most prominent work ‘A Theory of Justice’ has been occupying a pivotal position within political philosophy for over thirty years. Rawls aims to introduce a notion of justice that assumes the presence of a hypothetical social contract as the main factor for determining justice. In doing so, he makes use of the so-called original position which implies a hypothetical scenario in which people are put behind a veil of ignorance which denies them any awareness of their physical attributes as well as their socioeconomic circumstances (eg. one’s gender, religion etc.). People participating in this hypothetical scenario must consequently decide about the social justice of a society, as if they were to inhabit the given society afterwards.

Rawls’s notion that humans are equal is generally accepted, but such fairness can barely be noticed when looking at the practical implications of his concept of justice. Rawls believes that humans as being free and equal: “view themselves as having, a right to equal respect and consideration in determining the principles by which the basic structure of their society is to be governed” This assumption is accepted in most democratic societies and the social systems are based under such principles. Notwithstanding, Rawls views modern social institutions and systems as unjust as they would grant unfair benefits to certain persons. These notion would be accepted by many people, but Rawls does acknowledge that are by no means equal in their natural abilities or in their mental processes. Despite this, he still argues in favour of the veil of ignorance as it would conceal the individual natural capabilities under the original position. This seems contradicting considering that if the distinctions of natural abilities among individuals are an ineradicable part of human existence and therefore unavoidable; why would Rawls insist on abstracting from them when trying to determine justice on

In addition, I outlined the strong confinement in Rawls’s theory of Justice with regards to his perception of fairness. I have argued that Rawls’ perception of fairness is quite distinctive as it seems largely irreconcilable with the perception of fairness that is widely accepted by most people. To ensure a fair and equal treatment for all, Rawls stresses a complete obliteration of national capabilities and circumstances in order to create justice. However, Rawls’s perception of a just society differs a lot from the contemporary society we live in and is therefore of little significance to us. Rawls’ theory of justice fails in annihilating unfairness, and instead exposes another kind of as depicted in the hypothetical examples of the usage of Rawls’s methodology in