Download Rawls`s Contractarian Ethical Theory

Rawls’s Contractarian Ethical Theory
Rawls’s book: A Theory of Justice
Rawls’s basic assumptions:
 Moral principles are principles governing interactions among the members of a
“well-ordered society.”
 A well-ordered society is a society
o that seeks to advance the good of its members
o whose basic institutions are regulated by a “public conception of justice”
o whose members accept the same principles of justice
o that is stable
 Moral principles are those that would be negotiated by the members of a wellordered society if those members were negotiating in an “original position.”
The Original Position
 The negotiators are rational, self-interested individuals.
 Each negotiator makes his/her choices behind a “veil of ignorance.”
o No one knows his/her social status.
o No one knows his/her natural abilities—intelligence, strength, etc.
o No one knows his/her “conception of the good”—i.e., his/her life goals,
psychological/personality characteristics, etc.
o No one knows the economic or political state of the society—i.e., how
advanced it is technologically, culturally, etc.
o No one knows which generation he/she belongs to—present or future.
According to Rawls, the principles that would emerge from the negotiators would include
the following:
1. Each person would have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty
compatible with a similar liberty for others.
2. Maximin principle: Economic and social inequalities are permissible if they are
(a) likely to be to everyone’s advantage, and (b) “attached to positions and offices
open to all.”
According to Rawls,
 The principles of distribution of benefits and burdens that would emerge from the
negotiations in the original position would determine the principles of distributive
justice (pure procedural justice).
 The principles of conduct that would emerge from the negotiations in the original
position would determine the principles of right and wrong.