Preview

Justice as Fairness

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
540 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Justice as Fairness
Harvard philosopher John Rawls (1921-2002 ) developed a conception of justice as fairness in his now classic work A Theory of Justice . Using elements of both Kantian and utilitarian philosophy, he has described a method for the moral evaluation of social and political institutions.

Imagine that you have set for yourself the task of developing a totally new social contract for today's society. How could you do so fairly? Although you could never actually eliminate all of your personal biases and prejudices, you would need to take steps at least to minimize them. Rawls suggests that you imagine yourself in an original position behind a veil of ignorance . Behind this veil, you know nothing of yourself and your natural abilities, or your position in society. You know nothing of your sex, race, nationality, or individual tastes. Behind such a veil of ignorance all individuals are simply specified as rational, free, and morally equal beings. You do know that in the "real world", however, there will be a wide variety in the natural distribution of natural assets and abilities, and that there will be differences of sex, race, and culture that will distinguish groups of people from each other.

In this original position , behind the veil of ignorance, what will the rational choice be for fundamental principles of society? The only safe principles will be fair principles, for you do not know whether you would suffer or benefit from the structure of any biased institutions. Indeed the safest principles will provide for the highest minimum standards of justice in the projected society.

To use a more mundane illustration, imagine that you had the task of determining how to divide a cake fairly among a group of individuals. What rule or method should govern the cutting? A simple one would be to let the person who does the cutting receive the last piece. This would lead that person to cut all pieces as equally as possible in order to receive the best remaining share.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    John Rawls’ Fairness Approach is an appropriate ethical framework to use when assessing this dilemma. This approach questions if everyone involved is being treated fairly (is there favoritism and discrimination?). The Fairness Approach examines how fairly or unfairly the actions of an individual or group distribute benefits and burdens everyone else. With this approach, consistency of treatment among persons is key. The only insistence when treatment must differ is if there is a morally relevant difference between people (Andre, Meyer, Shanks, Velasquez, 1989). There are three different kinds of justice -- Distributive, Restorative, and Compensatory. Distributive justice focuses on the benefits and burdens evenly distributed amongst society’s…

    • 183 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The final principle is justice. Justice can be defined as an act of fairness, having a sense…

    • 3593 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Due process perspective, believe that the justice system should be dedicated to providing fair and equitable treatment to those accused of crime. This means providing impartial hearings, competent legal counsel, evenhanded treatment, and reasonable sanctions to ensure that no one suffers from racial, religious, or ethnic discrimination and that their basic constitutional rights are respected…

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States Pledge of Allegiance is an honorable and commendable mantra. It concludes with, “one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” Justice in the former reference is inclusive for everyone, an entitlement, granted upon birth. John Rawls position of justice is that “everyone should be treated equally and as fair as possible”. Mr. Rawls position parallels the Egalitarian theory of equality and mutual respect. This isn’t necessarily the practice because contrary to the hope for multiple factors are factored in to the outcome.…

    • 230 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Theories of justice are also referred to in the article. These theories utilize concepts by John Rawls which include ideas on how to “create an environment of opportunity and access by all to the most comprehensive range of prospects” (Colin, 2012, p. 444). This theory can lead to a society where individuals are given opportunities to succeed.…

    • 1775 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Newsies

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages

    {draw:rect} {draw:g} {draw:frame} The Newsboys Strike takes place during the late 1800’s. During these times, working conditions for Americans in the New York area had become increasingly hazardous causing several workers to become injured on the job. Since in these times healthcare coverage was not an option for many workers, injuries often occurred and the employees of these hazardous-conditioned companies could do nothing but await their curing and hope the family might find a way to remain supported until they’d be able to continue working. For many families, this meant sending on the younger boys, sometimes as young as six and seven, into the streets to distribute these newspapers. Any revenue earned was habitually brought back to these children’s families. Once papers had been sold the cycle of child labor would repeat the following morning. This was a difficult time for many, especially younger children who in these times confronted issues such as homelessness and starvation, not to mention the lack of emotional support. Children all over New York City would wake early in the morning and follow on into their daily routines of buying papers and hoping to get a small profit to survive. Times seized to become even more difficult when Joseph Pulitzer begins to ponder on ideas of bringing in more money. “There’s more money out there in those streets, and I want to know how I can make more of it”. In his money-hungry words one can truly view his desperation to accumulate more money despite having to go to the extreme to retrieve this. After deliberating a few ideas on how to accumulate more money, both Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst decide to team upand profit together instead of constantly competing to gain profits. They would then proceed to raising the price of newspapers, believing that the “Newsies“ had no other option but to accept this harsh fact and try even harder to sell their “Papes” .This is a great example of Oligopoly in the area due…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The thought experiment offers a way of deducing just principles that free and rational persons would choose if they were not able to know what position they would occupy in life. The principles are chosen behind a veil of ignorance that prevents the participants from knowing particular information about themselves. Rawls believes this would lead to fair results as participants are unable to choose principles that they can profit from. Rawls argues that the rational persons, behind the veil of ignorance, would give priority to the Liberty Principle which means that "each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all". Participants would choose a second principle which stipulates that social and economic inequalities are justifiable if they satisfy two conditions: they are arranged so that they are both to the greatest possible benefit of the least advantaged, which is known as the Difference Principle; and that positions and offices are open to all under the conditions of fair equality of…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    | Justice is the principle that free and rational persons concerned to further their own interests would accept in an initial position of equality as defining the fundamental terms of their association. Greatest benefit to the least advantaged.…

    • 4727 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Actual Bias Research Paper

    • 1200 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Actual Bias - Actual bias is when the decision-maker has an interest to one party over the…

    • 1200 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Management

    • 1308 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A set of universal principles, which applied evenly to all decisions will result in fairness and equity in ethical decisions.…

    • 1308 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    (1) What does Rawls mean by "the original position . . . under the veil of ignorance" and how does this serve as the basis for his theory of justice? (2) What are his two principles of justice? Explain the two principles.
(3) Offer a brief critical evaluation of his theory of justice.…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Justice delivery system and mechanisms have throughout the ages evolved as a tool to make justice and fairness prevail in the society. The pivotal object of any legal system across the globe is to provide justice equally and therefore no discrimination based on who comes before the court. If this object is to be accomplished then it becomes essential to develop principles of law in such a manner that, in so far as possible, similar cases will lead to similar decisions. This requirement of uniformity and consistency runs through all branches of law and for any legal system or justice delivery mechanism it is necessary to follow a consistent and similar modus operandi so that justice can be met equally to all.…

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Conflict vs. Consensus: debate needs to happen but shouldn't go too far (need a healthy medium) – people still need to trust and follow their government's decisions…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Defining justice may be difficult depending on how a person was raised and their experiences throughout their childhood. If a child is wronged at a young age, and they never have the satisfaction of seeing the one who wronged them reprimanded for their actions, they may never really understand the textbook definition of justice. Never understanding the true concept of justice and even thinking that the government system is messed up, can make a rising adolescent take matters into their own hands, just like Amara.…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Equal fairness applies to everyone. A potential suspect can have fairness too. In the criminal trial, the defendant can have an opportunity to get his or her innocence proven; but is limited on his or her rights. The defendant’s rights are described in the Sixth Amendment. There are special features of criminal trials that are present to provide the uttermost fairness such as the speedy trial, against self-incrimination, the mutual presumption, and strict proof. All of those can help to determine which course of action fits the defendant situation and provides justices to the victim or to the defendant.…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays