PHIL 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Justice As Fairness, Rationality, Minimax

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 1010
• Professor: Omid Payrow Shabani

Document Summary

For rawls, the ultimate basis of society rests on a set of tacit agreements among members. Based on such an implicit contract he formulates a theory of justice. Rawls calls his approach justice of fairness which aims the principles of justice at the institutional level of society so that they can regulate any further social cooperation. He invites us to imagine an initial situation of political negotiation that he calls the original position. It is to be understood as a purely hypothetical situation. When social conditions provide sufficient goods rawls believes that we would opt for a special conception of justice. The difference principle does not allow inequalities in institutional practices on the ground that the hardship of some is offset by a greater good of the majority. So, it is different from the utility principle. The two principles of justice refer to two distinct parts of social structure.