Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Original Position, Equal Opportunity, Risk Aversion
20 Jan 2017
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Lecture 13 - the distribution of property: rawls and his. Original position and veil of ignorance - central point in argument. If you do(cid:374)"t k(cid:374)o(cid:449) (cid:449)ho you a(cid:396)e, you do(cid:374)"t k(cid:374)o(cid:449) (cid:449)hat"s (cid:271)est fo(cid:396) you. Maximax: best things under best circumstances, only turn out if you were lucky. Utility maximization: most useful society to set up most happiness. Maximin: best outcome in the worst situation (rawls suggestion for best decision) What pops (people in the original position) know. They are moderately self-interested and have conflicting goals. They have a sense of justice (recognizing everyone as moral equals) They have a conception of the good (idea of what gives meaning and value to life) This is a so-called "thin theory of the good": they want primary goods (primary goods: things that any rational person wants, whatever else they want; liberties, opportunities, income in order to get what they want.
