Veil of Ignorance - Rawls
- All people are biased, so how should we agree on a social contract to determine how the world should work?
- We should imagine we sit behind a veil of ignorance that keeps us from knowing who we are and identifying with our personal circumstances.
- By being ignorant of our circumstances, we can more objectively consider how societies should operate.
- Primary principles
- Liberty principle: ensure that people enjoy the maximum freedom posible without intruding on the liberty of others
- Difference principle: guarantee that everyone has equal opportunity to prosper.
- Fairness is the essence of justice.
- Imagine you would have to choose the laws of society, but before choosing, you forgot everything about yourself.
- Then you would place rules fair for everyone, not knowing where you would be
- In choosing the rules behind the veil of ignorance, you would do your best to make sure no one was treated unfairly.
Sources