ToP- Rawls, Liberalism and Justice

What makes a distribution fair in Rawls's procedural conception?

it results from a fair decision procedure

What political fact makes compromise necessary for Rawls?

reasonable pluralism

What must principles of justice be in relation to citizens?

justifiable to them

Why must citizens have reasons to accept political power?

legitimate political power requires justification

What hypothetical fact substitutes for actual consent in Rawls's account?

what citizens would consent to

How does Rawls characterise the resulting society in relation to voluntariness?

the closest possible to a voluntary scheme

What is the Original Position?

a hypothetical choice scenario for selecting principles of justice

What are individuals in the Original Position choosing?

the basic structure of society

What decision rule asks agents to choose the best worst outcome?

the guaranteeable level

What motivates agents in the Original Position?

self-interest

What device prevents self-interest from producing an unfair bargain?

the veil of ignorance

What makes the resulting principles just on Rawls's account?

they would be chosen in the Original Position

What does Rawls mean by the basic structure?

major social and political organisations distributing rights and duties

Which personal facts are hidden by the veil because they create bargaining advantages?

social circumstances and natural talents

Why are natural talents morally arbitrary for Rawls?

they result from a natural lottery

What conception is also hidden to protect a higher-order freedom?

conceptions of the good

What higher-order freedom is protected by ignorance of conceptions of the good?

freedom to choose one's conception of the good

What analogy do Mulhall and Swift use to explain the Original Position?

cutting a cake without knowing which piece you receive

What feature does the cake analogy highlight?

fair division

What difference does Kymlicka identify between the state of nature and the Original Position?

the Original Position removes unfair bargaining power

What feminist concern does Okin raise about Rawls's basic structure?

the family receives insufficient attention

How does Okin propose resolving the family objection?

include the family in the basic structure

What does Kymlicka say Rawls neglects by focusing on primary social goods?

inequalities in natural goods

What natural good is used as an example of this neglect?

health

Why can higher income fail to compensate for poor health?

it may simply cover medical costs

What does Cohen say is additionally required for distributive justice?

a revolution of feeling

How does Rawls's family model create a feminist concern about the Original Position?

the head of the family is expected to act altruistically

What does Okin propose agents should be ignorant of to solve this?

their position within the family

What does Nussbaum criticise about Rawls's conception of the individual?

it is too abstractly rational

What question does Nussbaum raise about the hypothetical agents?

whether we can really infer how they would act

Which group does Nussbaum say Rawls may neglect in the Original Position?

people with mental disabilities

What condition concerning natural endowments creates this exclusion?

they must lie within the normal range

What further part of the veil does Mulhall and Swift question the possibility of imagining?

ignorance of one's conception of the good

What does Rawls's First Principle guarantee?

equal basic liberties

What priority does the First Principle have?

lexical priority

What does Fair Equality of Opportunity require?

equal chances for equally talented and motivated people

How does Fair Equality of Opportunity differ from formal equality of opportunity?

it addresses the cultivation of talent rather than only formal restrictions

What does the Difference Principle require?

inequalities must benefit the least advantaged

Which condition of the Second Principle has priority?

fair equality of opportunity

What criticism says the Difference Principle permits too little inequality?

inequality is allowed only when it maximally benefits the least advantaged

What additional primary social good might Rawls use to address concerns about money?

leisure time

What problem does gambling create for the leisure response?

the worse off may not gain more leisure

What does Kymlicka's gardener-and-tennis-player case illustrate?

an inequality may fail to benefit the worst off

Why does the gardener-tennis-player inequality require redistribution on this argument?

the tennis player is worst off but the inequality does not benefit them

What tension does Fair Equality of Opportunity face concerning social class?

class may affect talent and motivation

Why does limiting information about talent in the Original Position create a tension with Fair Equality of Opportunity?

talent is treated as morally arbitrary there

How does Rawls respond to the claim that morally arbitrary talent must never matter?

there is no reason to favour it, but it is not necessarily bad

Why might the talented receive jobs despite talent being morally arbitrary?

they may benefit the least advantaged through greater productivity

How might economic inequality be defended through incentives?

it can increase productivity and benefit the worse off

What does Cohen accept about the Difference Principle?

the principle itself is correct

What does Cohen deny about most serious inequalities?

that they genuinely satisfy the Difference Principle

Why does Cohen think talented people cannot justify higher rewards as necessary?

their own demands make the inequality necessary

What would genuinely committed talented people do on Cohen's argument?

accept no unnecessary payment

What distinction might Rawls use to defend the state despite unjust behaviour by citizens?

a just state can contain an unjust society

What analogy does the notes use for citizens accepting principles but exploiting them?

tax avoidance through loopholes

What does Cohen's 'personal is political' criticism target?

injustice within the private domain

What area does Rawls's principles allegedly leave outside their scope?

family life

What does Rawls say in response to the private-domain criticism?

his principles are not designed to regulate personal conduct

What division of labour does Rawls invoke?

between the individual and the basic structure

What does the basic structure provide for personal life?

background justice conditions