Stuart Mills Utilitarianism

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How Rawls was trying to correct/improve Bentham/Stuart Mills's utilitarianism and classic social contract theory;
When we think about justice, we think of doing something “the right way,” having a conduct that is just and fair; but what is the right way? Many scholars have tried to answer the best course to become a just society. One of them, Jeremy Bentham considered the best way to determine how to be a just society was to analyze what course of action would prove to be more “cost effective.” He believed humans determined morality by measuring the action that will maximize their happiness or grant them the maximum benefit. He also assumes as a society we would need to select the means that would prove to be more beneficial and provide …show more content…

He considers the differences among individuals these differences should be taken into consideration. He assumes the principles of justice can hypothetically can derive from a social contract. This contract is between all the members of society who are invested into the welfare of the society as a whole (Sandels video). Rawls was convinced people would act honorably as long as their liberty was not at risk. He considered in order to be a just society, we need to give everyone an equal access and start with the original position, where social status, race or any other advantages or disadvantages were not taken into account. He called this the “veil of ignorance.” The reason behind the veil of ignorance, is a pretended cover that prevents humans from making decisions to benefit themselves. Through the veil, we are not aware what social status we will have; therefore the way we can shape our laws and the society we will be in should not affect the way we determine our course. Since we don’t know if we will be part of a majority or minority group, we decide on laws that should de impartial to everyone, not just a determined group (Gray). Utilitarian theory does not take into account the distinction between person. With the veil of ignorance, that is taken care

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