Governance BAC 223 (One) An essay on the Theory of justice by John Rawls Mr. F D Bisika 7th March 2013 Steve Tseka – third year A-BAF/2013/1/45 Distance learning Page 1 of 5 Critical discussion on the central features of John Rawls’ Theory of Justice John Rawls is an American philosopher who was born in 1921 and died in the year 2002. In His books‚ Theory of Justice and Justice and fairness published in 1971 and 1958 respectively‚ Rawls is noted for being a social contract theorist in that he believes
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it‚ then conclude with a counter argument to the counter argument. John Rawls‚ using Kantian rationality‚ discusses ways to determine principles of social justice. He begins by making a clear distinction as to what defines the social justice used in his argument – “the way in which the major social institutions distribute fundamental rights and duties and determine the division of advantages from social cooperation”. Rawls then continues to introduce concepts such as the original position which
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Justice as Fairness Rawls first begins with discussing how we are lead to the original position. The original position is a hypothetical argument that considers a society where people do not decide what is right or wrong based on a higher power or emotion‚ but rather on common sense. These ideas establish justice or fairness simply based on the community’s beliefs that they create. However‚ these agreements cannot be made without the “veil of ignorance.” This means that all instances that
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In a broad sense‚ both Rawls and Nozick agree that the legitimacy of a just society is highly dependent on the emphasis of liberty for its citizens. For Rawls‚ it is the first principal of justice‚ and though he presupposes equal liberty as a basic right for each person‚ he makes a point to prioritize its importance. Rawls outlines some basic liberties‚ including political liberties‚ equal treatment under the law‚ and the freedom to hold personal property (Rawls‚ 677). Nozick agrees with this emphasis
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John Rawls and Robert Nozick views on Justice do have several opposing differences; however‚ they both do have similar context in some ways. Some of the major differences addressed in the reading are the issue of a legitimate distribution of wealth by the government. In John Rawls Second principal‚ the difference principle‚ Rawls basically explains that inequalities‚ socially and economically‚ are acceptable if they promote the well-being of the poor. Basically‚ John Rawls believes that the poor
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Rawls’ Maximin Principle: Is It Really The Most Rational Solution? Political philosophy aims to reflect the normative and conceptual dimensions of political life. American philosopher John Rawls is widely recognized as one of the leading political philosophers of the twentieth century. His A Theory of Justice (1971) is one of the primary texts in political philosophy and proposes two principles of justice. The first‚ the liberty principle‚ defines basic liberties and the second‚ the difference
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theorist John Rawls‚ in his work‚ The Law of Peoples‚ discusses the formal‚ background and redistributive senses of equality and that the outcome of working with the Law of Peoples in a liberal
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political theory over the past 50 years‚ and John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice (1971) is widely seen as the most important attempt during that period to articulate a set of institutions and distributional outcomes that rational individuals would see as legitimate. Rawls’ seminal work has spawned a veritable critical industry since its publication (Miller‚ 1999). His elaboration of his project and restatement of his theory of “justice as fairness” (Rawls‚ 2001) promise to sustain interest in his ideas
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The conventional accounts of Justice normally begin by stating a fundamental rule of Aristotle – Justice is to treat equals equally and unequals unequally‚ and that unequal treatment should be in proportion to the inequality. In everyday life though‚ justice is seen as an attribute of law‚ while all laws are not necessarily just. Many great socio- political movements of the world have focused from time to time on unjust laws eg Apartheid laws in South Africa and Caste laws in India. Impartiality
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Rawls Theory of Justice A contemporary philosopher‚ John Rawls (1921-2002)‚ is noted for his contributions to political and moral philosophy. In particular‚ Rawls ’ discussion about justice introduced five important concepts into discourse‚ including: the two principles of justice‚ the “original position” and “veil of ignorance”. Rawls most famous work is‚ A Theory of Justice (1971) gives an introduction to this body of thought and he emphasises the importance justice has on governing and organising
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