Hi,
The first thing to note is that Rawl's uses game theory (strategic
thinking) based on rational actor theories of behavior to develop his
Theory of Justice. That is, he assumes that individuals in the
Original Position are self-interested, value maximizers, or
individuals who are looking to get the most for themselves out of
social arrangements.
In this vein, Rawls presents his theory in opposition to Utilitarian
theory that assumes individuals are "society centered" seeking the
greatest good for the greatest number of people in society.
Rawls outlines his Original Position in Chapter III of his book, "A
Theory of Justice". The original position is suppose to be the place
(it's hypothetical) that people start with to derive (or negotiate)
the basic principles of justice under which they will live.
The primary instrument that Rawls uses in the original position is
called the "veil of ignorance". It means that during the negotiation
phase, the negotiators do not know basic things about themselves such
as abilities, gender, race. Rawls imposes this "veil of ignorance" in
order to insure that individuals or groups of individuals do not
tailor the basic principles of scoiety (or stack the deck) to their
advantage and to the disadvantage of others. He would argue that the
principles of justice need to be fair to all members of society.
The second part of the question deals with an explanation of how
actors would arrive at the two principles of justice. First, the two
principles that Rawls says would emerge from the Original Position by
rational actors under a veil of ignorance would be in shorthand, the
liberty principle and the difference principle.
Rawls decsribes the liberty principle as follows:
"Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic
liberty compatible with similar liberty for others."
Why would the liberty principle be negotiated? Remember that people
are rational actors looking out for themselves. If they do not know
basic information about themselves, they would be risk adverse. They
might be a group that is traditionally discriminated against. In order
to protect themselves, its in their own interest to agree that equal
liberties for all be a basic principle of society.
The second principle, the "difference principle" was outlined by Rawls
in section 46 of A Theory of Justice. It says,
"Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are
both: a) reasonably expected to be to everyone's advantage and b)
attached to positions and offices open to all."
Why would the difference principle be adopted? To get to this point
Rawls assumes that individuals in the original position will adopt
what is known as the "maximin" decision rule. That means they will
make decisions to maximize the minimun value for the individual. He
assumes this to be true by assuming that self-interested individuals
who do not know their actual position in society would again be risk
adverse. They could be members of a disadvantaged group in society
(ones with less education or skills or a discrimated group)and without
a difference principle, they would receive less economic benefit. They
are just trying to insure that in the worst case scenario, they would
receive the maximum amout available.
Additional Information
Rawls Original Position in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/original-position/
Search Strategy
Rawls, original position
Rawls, veil of ignorance
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maximin vs minimax |
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