Rawls theory of Justice Meanings of words

Samuel Freeman called Rawl’s theory of Justice as Formulate=build;

“one of the most influential works in moral and construct; to create from
Introduction: scratch
political philosophy” in the twentieth century. Rawl Utilitarian=practical;
attempted to formulate a theory of justice that would useful
Crux of
Rawls theory
preserve social justice and individual liberty. He
reacts to the utilitarian theory of the period that stated
that justice is to be perceived as a system that
“provides the greatest good of the greatest number”
and argues that justice should be modeled on a fair
choice situation within which parties would
hypothetically choose mutually acceptable principles
of justice. In this, he prompts us to use the “veil of
ignorance” or the Original Position in determining
the morality of societal roles.

The Veil of ignorance

Original
Position Posit=present; to say
definition In explaining his concept of the ‘Veil of Ignorance’, Foreknowledge=To have
Rawl posits that social justice can be rendered from knowledge before…
Enlisted=selected
the original position or objective vantage point. The
Adequately=sufficiently
original position is occupied by a person who is Dictated=governed;
“shrouded in a veil of ignorance” with no motivated
“foreknowledge of his or her position in society”. Disadvantaged= without
Such a person enlisted with the task of providing advantage.
social justice will choose a system of justice that
adequately provides for those in the lower rungs of
society. The reason for the choice will be dictated by
the fact that the person in the original position may
otherwise end up disadvantaged and will feel the
need to be provided for.

Rawls draws on earlier political theories to Substantiate=prove

Link to earlier substantiate his ideas. He states that earlier political Stipulate=to state with
theorists philosophies stipulate that society is a social contract emphasis.
between individuals who have agreed on terms and
conditions of governance. Such a social contract, if
formulated from the original position will be a just
society that does not sacrifice the liberty of the
individual.
Addresses==talks about
Elaboration Rawl’s Theory of Justice addresses issues of liberty, Conflict=disagreements
on theory social equality, democracy and the conflict of interest Built=constructed
between the individual and society. The theory is Concept=idea
Governed=ruled
built around concepts of fairness, liberty and equality Process=practice; means;
in distribution of wealth. The process of justice is methodology
governed by principles of efficiency and principles of
difference.

Principle of Liberty Extensive=widespread

Compatible= well-
Each person must have an equal right to the most matched
extensive system of equal basic liberties compatible
with a similar system of liberty for all.
Consistent-uniform; in
Principle of wealth harmony

Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged

so that they are both:
(a) to the greatest benefit of the least
advantaged, consistent with the just savings
principle, and

(b) attached to offices and positions open to Opportunity=chance

all under conditions of fair equality of
opportunity.

Principle of Efficiency

Rawl’s adopts Pareto’s concept of efficiency. It is Adopt=take over; use

negatively defined. A system cannot be considered
efficient if there is an alternative arrangement that
improves the situation of some people without
making worse the situation of others. However, even
where arrangements are efficient, they may not be
equally just. Other principles of justice must be
invoked to select the most efficient arrangement.
Invoked=considered
The Difference Principle

This is an egalitarian concept in that it makes equal

distribution the norm. There can be no Egalitarian=equal;
democratic
difference except those that are justified on the Justified=that which can
grounds of efficiency. be defended; reasoned
out.
Priority Rules

Rawls explicitly addresses the fact that there will be Unanimously= in one
situations where these two primary principles will be voice; in complete
in conflict with each other. Rather than compromise agreement
between them in such cases, he takes the position that
 there is a specific priority.

The Priority of Liberty

The principles of justice are to be ranked in lexical
order and therefore liberty can be restricted only for Explicitly=clearly
the sake of liberty. There are two cases: Compromise= give
concessions; come to
(a) a less extensive liberty must strengthen the
terms with
total system of liberty shared by all;

(b) a less than equal liberty must be

acceptable to those with the lesser liberty.

The Priority of Justice over Efficiency and

Welfare
The second principle of justice is lexically prior to
the principle of efficiency and to that of maximizing
the sum of advantages; and fair opportunity is prior
to the difference principle. There are two cases:

(a) an inequality of opportunity must enhance

the opportunities of those with the lesser
opportunity;

(b) an excessive rate of saving must on

balance mitigate the burden of those bearing
this hardship.

Modification of Rawl’s Theory of Justice in later

works

Modification Rawls modified his theory of justice in his later work

to reorganize and clarify his ideas. He introduced the
concept of “Fairness” into the Theory of Justice.

Principle of Fairness
Virtue=good quality
“Justice is the first virtue of a social institution” says Structured=defined;
Rawl. He holds that a good society is one that is created
structured according to the principles of justice. Inadequate=not enough
Existing theories of justice are inadequate in the Context=situation;
circumstances
context. So a viable alternative must be found that re-
formulates the basic structure of society on the basis
of “fairness”.
Assigning=allotting;
Rawl explains that fairness is important for two key giving
purposes: Appropriate=correct; right
Benefits=advantages
 Burdens= problems
1. to provide a way of assigning right and duties
Efficiency=good
in the basic institutions of society; and organization
2. to define the appropriate distribution of the Coordination=bringing
benefits and burdens of society. together
Stability=firmness;
But, well-ordered societies, based on the above strength
definition is rare because there is a dispute about
“what is just and what is unjust”. Further, a well-
ordered, just society must be formulated to address
the problems of “efficiency, coordination and
stability”.

Criticism of Rawls theory of Justice

The theory of justice was criticized on several

grounds.
Hypothetical=theoretical;
Criticism imaginary
Rawls concept of “Veil of Ignorance” is both Derived=got from;
hypothetical and ahistorical. It is hypothetical obtained
because the principles are to be derived from what Legitimizing=making
parties would agree upon under legitimizing legal; validating
Ahistorical=does not take
circumstances and that those principles would have into consideration
moral weight as a result. It is ahistorical in that it historical developments
does not suppose that the agreement could actually be
entered into as a matter of fact.

Social theorists also criticize Rawls theory as Divorcing=separating

divorcing the individual from the values and
aspirations that define him or her.

Marxist critics argued that Rawl’s theory is an

Constructs=builds
apology for the status quo as it constructs justice Forcloses=closes/ends
from existing practices and forecloses the possibility before the beginning
that there may be problems of injustice embedded in Embedded=buried
capitalistic social relations, private property or
market economy.

Feminist critics focused on how Rawl’s theory would Focused=concentrated;

impact familial relationships and felt that he failed to pay attention to
account for injustices found in patriarchal societies Partriarchal=deriving
and the gendered division of labor within households from the father
Gendered
and other places. division=division based
on sex of the individual
Egalitarian critics criticized Rawl’s emphasis on
social goods. They argued that Rawl’s concern with
equality in the distribution of goods is not sufficient
and he should have taken into consideration how
people use the goods. Ultimate=final
Absolutizes=make
Others like Allan Bloom argued that Rawl absolute; describe as the
absolutizes social union as the ultimate goal which only one.
would make it artificial. Fetish=obsession

G.A Cohen criticized Rawl’s avowal of inequality

under the difference principle. He said that Rawl
applied the principle only to social institutions and
had a fetish about primary goods. Emerging=coming out
Reflective
Amartya Sen defends Rawl’s basic notion of justice equilibrium=balance
but is critical of his notion of fairness and the two arising from thinking
principles of justice emerging from the original about it.
position. He argues that there are multiple possible
outcomes of the reflective equilibrium behind the veil
of ignorance.

Finally Charles Blattberg criticized Rawl’s theory for

treating politics like a game. He feels that Rawl failed
to take politics seriously.