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FIL251 2018
WEEK 6: SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY
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• John Rawls and Moral Arbitrariness

• The Original Position Thought
Experiment
TODAY
• Rawls’ 2 Principles of Justice
• The Liberty Principle
• The Difference Principle
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• Contractarian: works from the

framework which theorises that a
JOHN RAWLS society operates on the basis of a kind
(1921-2002) of hypothetical agreement/contract
between its citizens
• A “social contract”
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4 SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

• What is a contract?
• Businessdictionary.com – “a voluntary, deliberate, and legally binding
agreement between two or more competent parties.”
• Why do we make contracts?
• To obligate people to compensate us for what we give them, mutual
benefit, etc.
• What are the necessary features of a fair contract?
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5 SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

• What gives contracts their binding power?

• Autonomy: I must have the freedom to choose whether or not to agree to the
terms
• but consent is not always enough: the leaky toilet/baseball cards
• Unequal power
• In fact, consent is sometimes not required. A benefit can arise without
consent: Sam’s automobile repair shop. Obligation arising purely out of
benefit.
• Reciprocity: I must give something and get something in return
• Marriage and cheating
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6 SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

• Sandel: "What do these various misadventures tell us about the morality of

contracts? Contracts derive their moral force from two different ideals,
autonomy and reciprocity."
• Autonomy: the capacity to choose for oneself
• Reciprocity: the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit

• Problem: Most actual contracts fall short of these ideals.

• Superior bargaining position means unequal power, meaning that there is little autonomy
for the party in the inferior bargaining position - coercion
• Unequal knowledge of the value of the things being exchanged means the deal may not be
mutually beneficial - deception
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7 SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

• Sandel:
• "But imagine a contract among parties who were equal in power and
knowledge, rather than unequal…"
• "A contract like this, among parties like these, would leave no room for coercion
or deception or other unfair advantages."
• "If you can imagine a contract like this, you have arrived at Rawls's idea of a
hypothetical agreement in an initial situation of equality."
• Based on hypothetical consent: what we would agree to if we could explicitly
give our consent.
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8 MORAL ARBITRARINESS

Rawls’ key idea: In thinking about justice, we must set aside factors about people
and their social positions that don’t matter to what people deserve
These things are morally arbitrary – they have to do with luck
• Inequality of opportunity must be based on the decisions people make and not on
things that are out of their control
• What is the point? To come up with a fair contract which will be fair to all
members of society.
• Which principles would we choose to guide our laws?
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9 SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

• Autonomy: The first provides equal basic liberties for all

citizens, such as freedom of speech and religion.
• Reciprocity: The second principle permits only those social and
economic inequalities that work to the advantage of the least
well off members of society.
• Which moral theories can you see have influenced this theory?
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10 SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

• How does Rawls make his point for his claim that we
would choose these principles? Two methods.
• The argument from the original position
• The argument from moral arbitrariness
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11 SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

• Argument 1 for Rawls’s two principles of justice – the argument

from the original position
• Rawls’s thought experiment
• Original position
• equal (no imbalance of power or knowledge),
• self-interested persons (want to have as much ‘basic/primary goods’ as
possible)
• Veil of ignorance
• Ensures the equality of power and knowledge that the original position requires.
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12 SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

• Which principles would we choose?

• A society governed by utilitarian principles?
• Oppression of the minority
• Rather system of equal basic liberties taking priority over general welfare
• A society governed by unregulated free market values?
• Gross inequality
• Rather a system that allows one to not be destitute and helpless