CRM/LAW C10 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Meritocracy, Justice As Fairness, Feudalism
9 May 2016
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Theories of wealth distribution by prof. william thompson. Veil of ignorance: hierarchical societies if you knew where you would be, you could easily choose. If you didn"t know where you"d end up, you would be pretty worried: averse to risks, would not live in a society that has so much inequality and unfairness based on accidents of birth. This isn"t the kind of society we should strive to build. Difference principle: people shouldn"t benefit from mere accidents of birth. We shouldn"t treat people differently based on mere happenstance. Child of a king, a huge benefit by virtue of your status of nobility: society"s treatment of people should be based on moral worth. Being born beautiful is like being the child of a king. Feudal: fixed hierarchy, the first system the monarch controls everything. The king could distribute some of his power to other lords to help administrate the kingdom.
