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How does John Rawls argue for his idea of a just society
Justice and its importance
How does John Rawls argue for his idea of a just society
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“Each person has his or her own plan of life - what is good may vary. Right is set down in the social contract, the same for everyone”. Quote taken from the Chronicle of Higher Education in an article titled: "The Enduring Significance of John Rawls". John Rawls, a political philosopher around the 1950’s but was not well known until the 1970’s. John Rawls was highly recognized and studied at many established colleges such as Oxford, Cornell University where Rawls became a professional philosopher and Harvard. Rawls wrote many series of highly known and influential articles regarding moral, political and philosophical problems. Rawls is well known for many different ideas and theories; however, in my personal opinion “Justice Theories” or “Justice as Fairness” is the most interesting, complex and the most appealing along with my opinions and reason why I agree with the theory that John Rawls has presented. Information taken from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Some quick facts about John Rawls are: Rawls was born February 21, 1921 and died November 24, 2002. Rawls was an American philosopher and a leading figure in moral and political philosophy. John is most known for his book titled: A Theory of Justice published in 1971, the book is now known as one of the primary texts in political philosophy. Rawls received both the Schock Prize for Logic and Philosophy and the National Humanities Medal in 1999. His work in political philosophy starts at a compelling argument that states the most reasonable principles of justice are ones that everyone would accept and agree with. He is one of the major thinkers in the tradition of liberal political philosophy. Rawls unique distinctions between political philosophers are frequentl...
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...th the up most regards, fascinating to anyone who takes the time to understand it.
Works Cited
• "A Theory of Justice Summary & Study Guide - John Rawls - ENotes.com." ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. .
• "Rawls, John [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. .
• "Understanding John Rawls: Justice as Fairness (sample)." Scribd. Web. 25 Jan. 2011. .
• "Thoughts on Justice as Fairness and the Redistribution of Wealth « Alt Lifehack." Alt Lifehack. Web. 15 Jan. 2011. .
• Rawls, J. (1993/1996/2005) Political Liberalism (Columbia University Press, New York)
“The greatest challenge to Rawls’s theory from racial/ethnic minorities could well be his insistence on basing overlapping consensus on the “basic institutions” of U.S. society: appreciations and understandings developed by the dominant group in society, but without taking into consideration oppressed peoples. Liberty, equality, and the common good are indeed important values. However, the issues is, What do they mean in the twenty-first century in a heterogeneous society integrated by others besides Euro-American males?”
Justice has different standards for every group that it is presented upon. Thoreau’s opinions and criticism is strongly stated. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was described as many things. Thoreau was an author and naturalist with very Republican views. Morals inspired him. He ties in morality with justice many times in his piece. He was as well a pacifist, who was more talk than action. He was an abolitionist who sought justice for minorities. They didn’t have the ability to defend themselves.
It also ties in with one of the core Mercy Values, which is justice, of our beloved college. Krugman challenges us to think about one question, “Why should we care about high and rising inequality?” (Krugman, 586). Some of the reasons inequality is a problem is the standards of living and the lack of progress in the economy for the middle and lower class families (Krugman, 586). These show that the distribution of wealth in the United States is not equal at all.
...e, Maxime, and Giuseppe C. Ruggeri. "Flat Taxes And Distributional Justice." Review Of Social Economy 56.3 (1998): 277-294. Business Source Premier. Web. 19 Jan. 2014.
Robert Nozick in the excerpt from his book Anarchy, State and Utopia presents his ideas on why a government in power should not spread the wealth of the state among all of the residents. Nozick writes mainly in response to John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice in which Rawls focuses on the idea of the state working towards improving financially the lives of those that are in the worst conditions. To explain his point of view Nozick expounds on various concepts that provide a better understanding of the procedure that lead to him arriving at the conclusion that he did. This includes the entitlement theory of Nozick. In this paper I will explain how Nozick reaches the conclusion that redistributive justice should not take place along with a detailed look at the various major concepts of his theory. In addition, I will also provide my view on what John Rawls’s argument against Nozick’s theory might be. Finally, I will explain why I agree with John Rawl’s theory and present detailed reasoning.
Imagine that all of the sudden memories of your life and everyone you’ve ever known suddenly disappeared. In this scenario, all knowledge you had of your talents, social status, financial standing, physical ability, intelligence and the other characteristics that you viewed could to definitively set yourself apart from others. In other words, everything that made you who you are through years of socialization all of the sudden vanished. To the John Rawls this scenario is called the original position, one where your consciousness has been placed under a “veil of ignorance”. As a thought experiment, Rawls argues that if individuals of a society discuss and define their system of social justice from the original position, the result of the discussion
INTRODUCTION John Rawls most famous work, A Theory of Justice, deals with a complex system of rules and principles. It introduces principles of justice to the world, principles which Rawls argues, are meant to create and strengthen equality while removing the inequality which exists within society. These principles are both meant as standalone laws and regulations, but they can be joined as well. The main function of the first principle is to ensure the liberty of every individual, while the second principle is meant to be the force for the removal of inequality through what Rawls calls distributive justice. I will begin this paper by making clear that this is a critique of Rawls and his principle of difference and not an attempt at a neutral analysis.
Rawls’ argues that a person’s good is that which is needed for the successful execution of a rational long-term goal of life given reasonably favorable circumstances. He described the definition of good as the satisfaction of rational desires and identified goods as liberty, opportunity, income, wealth and self-respect. Rawls creates a hypothetical society, via a thought experiment known as the “Veil of Ignorance,” in which all that you know of yourself is eliminated from your mind to allow you to come to a rational decision on how you would like your society to be organized. Rawls principle is that under a social contract, what is right must be the same for everyone. The essence of Rawls' “veil of ignorance” is that it is designed to be a representation of persons purely in their capacity as free and equal moral persons.
“Convincing the non-elite that inequality is morally right. Those most advantaged are justified in giving orders and receiving a greater proportion of valued goods and services, or at least, creating doubts about alternatives. All, individuals strive for cognitive consistency and will develop principles of fairness, such as Distributive Justice. Lastly, there is some evidence for distribution based on need as a result of ability to understand the needs of others. This is called the process of legitimation […]” (2011:461).
John Rawls’ Theory of Justice attempts to establish a fair and reasonable social account of social justice. To do this, he discusses two fundamental principles of justice, which if implemented into society, would guarantee a just and fair way of life. Rawls is mostly concerned with the social good (what is good and just), and his aim with the Theory of Justice is to provide a way that society could be one that is fair and just, while taking into consideration, a person’s primary goods (rights and liberties, opportunities, income and wealth, and the social bases of self-respect). The usage of these principles will lead to an acceptable basis of self-respect. That saying, if the two principles are fair and just, then the final primary good,
The social contract theory of John Rawls challenges utilitarianism by pointing out the impracticality of the theory. Mainly, in a society of utilitarians, a citizens rights could be completely ignored if injustice to this one citizen would benefit the rest of society. Rawls believes that a social contract theory, similar those proposed by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, would be a more logical solution to the question of fairness in any government. Social contract theory in general and including the views of Rawls, is such that in a situation where a society is established of people who are self interested, rational, and equal, the rules of justice are established by what is mutually acceptable and agreed upon by all the people therein. This scenario of negotiating the laws of that society that will be commonly agreed upon and beneficial to all is what Rawls terms "The Original Position and Justification".
of the book. London: Penguin Books Ltd, 1974. Rawls, John. The. A Theory of Justice.
John Rawls was more in agreement with the works of Locke and Rousseau; however, Rawls disagreed with the notion that the State of Nature was a historical situation as opposed to something hypothetical; Rawls instead believed an original position of equality which I agree with (917). Rawls believed humans to be free, rational, self-interested, and most importantly, equal.
Distributive Property or distributive justice is the economic framework of a society that asserts the rightful allocations of property among its citizens. Due to the limited amount of resources that is provided in a society, the question of proper distribution often occurs. The ideal answer is that public assets should be reasonably dispersed so that every individual receives what constitutes as a “justified share”; here is where the conflict arises. The notion of just distribution, however, is generally disagreed upon as is the case with Robert Nozick and John Rawls. These men have different takes on how property should be justly distributed. Nozick claims that any sort of patterned distribution of wealth is inequitable and that this ultimately reduces individual liberty. Rawls on the other hand, prioritizes equality over a diverse group where the distribution of assets among a community should be in the favor of the least advantaged. The immediate difference between the two is that both men have separate ideas on the legitimacy of governmental redistribution of resources; however I intend to defend Nozick’s theory by pointing out significant weaknesses in Rawls’s proposition.
& nbsp; Take Home Exam # 1: Essay-2 John Rawls never claimed to know the only way to start a society, but he did suggest a very sound and fair way to do so. He based his scenario on two principles of justice. His first principle of justice was that everyone should have the same rights as others.