I do not think anyone can say they live in a completely fair and just society. Rawls, however, proposed his political philosophy as the solution, offering a remarkable theory as to how we can reach a truly just and fair society. That is very ambitious. So how does Rawls propose for us to reach this just and fair society? Rawls proposed what he referred to as the original position.
This is the idea that all people come together to form a social contract and reach an agreement as to what principles would be the fairest and just to be applied to all. Rules wanted all people to come together in a completely impartial and unbiased way to find principles that everyone agrees to, to find the principles of justice and fairness for our society. The original position would ensure unanimous consensus on the basic and core structure of our society, not the tiny details but the fundamental principles that apply to every living person. Yes, I understand, but this sounds like a utopian fantasy. People cannot come to this original position in a completely impartial and unbiased way.
Firstly, humans are self-interested. We have people with wealth and power who would want to hold on to this, and we will have poorer people who will try to gain. Each person will want what is best for themselves, so they cannot be impartial or unbiased. Secondly, humans belong in different groups, an endless amount, whether it is family or racial groups or ethnicity or sex or gender. Sexuality, religion, even hobby preferences or sports team affiliations.
As selfish people, we will always want what is best for our groups. And again, this will diminish any sort of impartiality. Yes, you are correct.
People are selfish. They will be out to gain the most for themselves and their groups. However, Rawls conducted a little thought experiment. When we are at this original position, Rawls asked us to imagine A hypothetical veil of ignorance that covers all people.
What's a veil of ignorance? So, Rawls claims when we reach this original position to start negotiating on a just and fair society, the veil of ignorance will cover us. And when it does, we will instantly forget all details about ourselves.
We will be ignorant as to what race we are, what ethnic background we have, what religion we are, what sex or gender we are. even our desires, our conceptions of good and our psychological propensities. We will still be conscious and we will still be rational, but all the details that makes us an individual will be forgotten. I see. So here we are at the table with every other human on the planet ready to negotiate the just and fair society.
Only we do not know anything about ourselves. We have no idea what life we will live once the negotiations are over. We do not know if we will be male or female, black or white, rich or poor, we have no idea. And once these negotiations are complete and we rediscover who we are, there is no going back. What is agreed is agreed forever.
So, how would we approach these negotiations? Would we rationally afford more rights to some and less to others if we do not know which side we will fall on? Would we, for example, offer less rights to women if we do not know if we are male or female?
Would we give more power to certain races if we have no idea which race we are? We wouldn't. It would be completely irrational to do so. So it is here we can start a social contract with everyone from a purely impartial way.
If we have no clue where we are on the social spectrum, where our place is in society, we would want to make sure that wherever we land and whoever we are, we will have the same rights, privileges and freedoms as anyone else. it would be irrational to demand that certain people have less rights and freedoms if we could very well be part of that social group. Yes, this makes sense.
If we come to this original position wearing the veil of ignorance, we would never rationally privilege or detriment any person or persons in our society as it could be us. Yes, I see. However, rules still maintains that we can approach the negotiations in a selfish manner.
We can still negotiate from a selfish position and a selfish position would mean we would not want to live a life with less rights, we would not want to live a life with less freedoms, we would want the most liberty and well-being possible. In order to achieve this, it would mean that all people would be afforded the most liberty and well-being possible, as we could be any one of those people. So the original position allows us to negotiate in a selfish way But the veil of ignorance ensures an unbiased approach and guarantees fairness to all people no matter their status or background.
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