Original Position: Utilitarianism Principle Of Justice

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I will argue that according to Rawls, agents in the Original Position behind a veil of ignorance would not endorse a utilitarianism principle of justice because they, as rational individuals, would seek to create a cooperative scheme that would be the most beneficial to themselves, and advocating for a utilitarian principle of justice under such blind conditions would be far too great a risk for them to take.
Utilitarianism is a moral theory asserting that the morally right action is the one that produces the most favorable balance of good over evil, everyone considered (69). It is wholly concerned with the amount of net utility that an action generates. Utilitarianism has been one of the most influential moral theories throughout history. …show more content…

(646)” Therefore, Rawls concludes that agents in the Original Position would emphatically not accept a utilitarian principle of justice. Rawls assumes that it would never be to any man’s benefit to adopt utilitarian principles from the Original Position. However, I assert that once the Veil of Ignorance is stripped away, some men may find that it would have been to their benefit to adopt utilitarian principles; the only problem is that those same men may find that it was to their extreme detriment to advocate for the same. The way utilitarian principles will affect an individual can only be determined after the veil of ignorance is stripped away and people become aware of their morally irrelevant social contingencies. This means that agents in the Original Position may stand to gain by adopting utilitarian principles, but they may also stand to lose exponentially. Therefore, it is not simply that rational men would not advocate for utilitarian principles, but that they would be taking a grave risk by doing so. Utilitarianism condones murdering one to save many, and no rational man would gamble his life, knowing there is a chance that he will be the one sacrificed, simply because it will result in the most happiness in the

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