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;
 methodology
in distribution of wealth. The process of justice is
governed by principles of efficiency and principles of
difference.

Principle of Liberty Extensive=widespread

Compatible= well-
matched
Each person must have an equal right to the most
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

Egalitarian=equal;
distribution the norm. There can be no difference democratic
except those that are justified on the grounds of Justified=that which can
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
Compromise= give
the sake of liberty. There are two cases:
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

Rawls modified his theory of justice in his later work

Modification 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
Context=situation;
Existing theories of justice are inadequate in the
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
Appropriate=correct; right
 Benefits=advantages
purposes: Burdens= problems

Efficiency=good
1. to provide a way of assigning right and duties organization
in the basic institutions of society; and Coordination=bringing
2. to define the appropriate distribution of the together
benefits and burdens of society. Stability=firmness;
strength

But, well-ordered societies, based on the above

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 Hypothetical=theoretical;

grounds. imaginary
Criticism Derived=got from;
Rawls concept of “Veil of Ignorance” is both obtained
hypothetical and ahistorical. It is hypothetical Legitimizing=making
legal; validating
because the principles are to be derived from what Ahistorical=does not take
parties would agree upon under legitimizing into consideration
circumstances and that those principles would have historical developments
moral weight as a result. It is ahistorical in that it
does not suppose that the agreement could actually be
entered into as a matter of fact.
Divorcing=separating
Social theorists also criticize Rawls theory as
divorcing the individual from the values and
aspirations that define him or her.
Constructs=builds
Marxist critics argued that Rawl’s theory is an Forcloses=closes/ends
apology for the status quo as it constructs justice before the beginning
from existing practices and forecloses the possibility Embedded=buried
that there may be problems of injustice embedded in
capitalistic social relations, private property or
market economy.
Focused=concentrated;
Feminist critics focused on how Rawl’s theory would pay attention to
impact familial relationships and felt that he failed to Partriarchal=deriving
from the father
account for injustices found in patriarchal societies Gendered
and the gendered division of labor within households division=division based
and other places. 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 Ultimate=final
people use the goods. Absolutizes=make
absolute; describe as the
only one.
Others like Allan Bloom argued that Rawl
absolutizes social union as the ultimate goal which Fetish=obsession
would make it artificial.

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 Emerging=coming out
had a fetish about primary goods. Reflective
equilibrium=balance
Amartya Sen defends Rawl’s basic notion of justice arising from thinking
about it.
but is critical of his notion of fairness and the two
principles of justice emerging from the original
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.