Rawl's Theories of Justice

John Rawls offered a conception of justice as an alternative to the doctrine of utilitarianism in his 1971 book A Theory of Justice. John Rawls states two principles of justice which he says are provisional. The first of these states that each person is to have an equal right to the most basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others. The second states that social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both a) reasonably expected to be to the advantage of everyone and b) attached to positions and offices open to all. Rawls says that these principles refer to the basic structure of society and that they are to govern the rights and duties and to regulate the distribution of social and economic advantages. He also says that an original position of equality is the correct standpoint from which to assess different theories of justice, and this position is the source of the two principles noted above. Rawls's views on justice are embodied in his conception of political life and the formation of government. For Rawls, the act of entering into a social contract does not entail setting up a particular form of government as it does for Locke and Rousseau. Rather, he sees the nature of the agreement as being on the questions of justice, with the contract concerning an agreement on how issues between members of society are to be decided. The principles agreed to are to regulate all further agreements and specify the types of coope

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ial scheme depends essentially on how fundamental rights and duties are assigned and on the economic opportunities and social conditions in the various sectors of society (Rawls, A Theory of Justice 7). Rawls states that his purpose is to develop a theory of justice representing an alternative to utilitarian thought in general and to all different versions of it (Rawls, A Theory of Justice 22). He says that the most rational way to arrive at utilitarianism in a society is to adopt for society as a whole the principle of rational choice for one man. He says it is the idea of the impartial spectator and the use of sympathetic identification that this is accomplished: It is this spectator who is conceived as carrying out the required organization of the desires of all persons into one coherent system of desire; it is by this construction that many persons are fused into one. . . On this conception of society separate individuals are thought of as so many different lines along which rights and duties are to be assigned and scarce means of satisfaction allocated in accordance with rules so as to give the greatest fulfillment of wants (Rawls, A Theory of Justice 27). Rawls sees the possibility that a society which is dedicated to

Category: Philosophy - R