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Using a famous thought experiment to design a fair society from scratch.
Imagine you are about to be born into a new world, but you have no idea if you will be rich or poor, healthy or sick, a genius or someone who struggles to learn. If you had to write the laws for this world before you entered it, how would you make them fair for everyone?
In 1971, philosopher John Rawls published a ground-breaking book called A Theory of Justice. He wanted to find a way to decide what makes a society truly 'fair.' To do this, he proposed a thought experiment called the Original Position. Imagine a group of people meeting to decide the rules of a new society. However, there is a catch: they are wrapped in a Veil of Ignorance. This means they have no knowledge of their own identity. They don't know their race, gender, wealth, religion, or even their personal talents. Rawls argued that if you don't know where you'll end up, you will naturally create rules that are fair to everyone, just in case you end up at the bottom.
Quick Check
What is the primary purpose of the 'Veil of Ignorance' in Rawls's theory?
Answer
To ensure that people choose fair rules by preventing them from knowing their own social status or personal advantages.
Rawls believed that people behind the veil would agree on two main principles. First is the Liberty Principle: everyone should have the maximum amount of basic freedom (like speech and religion) as long as it doesn't stop others from having the same. Second is the Difference Principle. This deals with money and power. Rawls argued that inequality isn't always bad, but it must meet a specific condition: social and economic inequalities are only allowed if they result in compensating benefits for everyone, and in particular for the least advantaged members of society.
Consider two societies: 1. Society A: Everyone earns exactly . 2. Society B: Most people earn , but doctors earn .
According to the Difference Principle, Society B is actually 'fairer' if the high salary for doctors encourages more people to study medicine, leading to better healthcare for the poorest citizens. If the inequality makes the person at the bottom better off than they would be in a perfectly equal system, Rawls says it is just.
Quick Check
Under the Difference Principle, when is it okay for one person to have more wealth than another?
Answer
When that inequality benefits the least advantaged members of society.
When we choose from behind the veil, we use a strategy called Maximin (short for 'Maximize the Minimum'). Instead of gambling and hoping we end up as a billionaire, we look at the worst possible outcome and try to make it as good as possible. Mathematically, if represents a social system and represents the welfare of the worst-off person, we choose the system where is the highest. We prioritize the 'floor' of society over the 'ceiling' because we might be the ones standing on that floor.
Imagine you are designing a grading curve for a difficult test, but you haven't seen your own score yet. 1. Option A: Top 10% get an A, bottom 10% fail automatically. 2. Option B: Everyone who gets above a 60% passes, and extra credit is given to those who help struggling students.
Behind the veil, you would likely choose Option B. Even though you might be in the top 10%, the risk of being in the bottom 10% and failing automatically is too high to justify the 'prestige' of Option A.
You are the leader of a new colony on Mars. You have a limited supply of oxygen enhancers. 1. You could give them to the scientists to increase their productivity by . 2. You could give them to the manual laborers who work in the dust mines, which increases their safety but only increases total colony productivity by .
Applying the Veil of Ignorance, you must decide without knowing if you are a scientist or a miner. Rawls would argue for the laborers, as their safety is a more fundamental 'benefit' to the least advantaged than the general productivity boost of the scientists.
What does Rawls mean by the 'Original Position'?
If a CEO makes 100x more than a worker, how would the Difference Principle evaluate this?
True or False: Behind the Veil of Ignorance, Rawls believes people would choose to gamble on being rich rather than protecting the poor.
Review Tomorrow
In 24 hours, try to explain the 'Difference Principle' to a friend using the example of a sports team or a workplace.
Practice Activity
Look at a current school rule (like the dress code or phone policy). If you didn't know if you were a student, a teacher, or the principal, would you keep the rule exactly as it is?