John Rawls’s Theory of Justice (Saskatoon)

John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice was one of the most important and controversial books in philosophy of the second half of the Twentieth Century.

For this month’s meet up, we are hosting a talk / discussion on Rawls’s theory, given to us by Will Buschert, of the UofS Philosophy and Political Science departments.

Rawls’s theory of justice revolves around the adaptation of two fundamental principles of justice which would, in turn, guarantee a just and morally acceptable society. The first principle guarantees the right of each person to have the most extensive basic liberty compatible with the liberty of others. The second principle states that social and economic positions are to be (a) to everyone’s advantage and (b) open to all.

A key problem for Rawls is to show how such principles would be universally adopted, and here the work borders on general ethical issues. He introduces a theoretical “veil of ignorance” in which all the “players” in the social game would be placed in a situation which is called the “original position.” Having only a general knowledge about the facts of “life and society,” each player is to make a “rationally prudential choice” concerning the kind of social institution they would enter into contract with. By denying the players any specific information about themselves it forces them to adopt a generalized point of view that bears a strong resemblance to the moral point of view. “Moral conclusions can be reached without abandoning the prudential standpoint and positing a moral outlook merely by pursuing one’s own prudential reasoning under certain procedural bargaining and knowledge constraints.”