What role does the original position play is Rawl's defence of his two principles of justice in "A theory of Justice"?

What role does the original position play is Rawl’s defence of his two principles of justice?

In “A Theory of Justice” John Rawls puts forwards a social contract based upon two principles of justice, the idea of “Original Position” is a key feature in understanding and justifying these principles which attempt to be the groundwork for a society operating with the concept of ‘Justice as fairness”.

Rawls uses the ‘original position’ to help people arrive at the basic principles which should govern any society. He suggests that people should imagine themselves without any government and rationally deduce what kind of a government would be supported by his social contract and therefore achieve a just society in which every citizen is treated fairly. Since he acknowledges that we are essentially self-interested, original position requires us to assume a ‘veil of ignorance’. This means we should suppose we are ignorant to factors such as sex, race, generation, social class and any disabilities, so therefore effectively cease to know who we are and where we stand in the world. He believed that these factors may influence what we perceive to be just as we are naturally inclined to seek what will be advantageous to us. Rawls assumes that people put in this original position and required to choose the principles which govern society will choose principles that will be fair to everyone since they would not wish to lose out if they themselves happened to be in an unfortunate position. He defends this concept saying that the veil of ignorance “enables us to find a political conception of justice…and thereby serve as a public basis of justification in a society marked by the fact of reasonable pluralism.”

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Rawls arrives at his two basic principles of justice and he argues that any person in original position will agree to a society based on these principles. The first principle or “Principle of equal liberty” states that each person should get an equal guarantee to as many liberties and as much of those liberties as can be guaranteed to everyone else at the same time. He explains that he is not referring to the liberty to act as one chooses but rather to political liberty and the freedom of speech, thought and person. This principle can be defended by the original position since no person who is ignorant of their position in society would decree that there should be restrictions on who is allowed to vote or encourage tight censorship laws applicable to only certain groups of people. This follows because each person would fear that they themselves would fall into a category which is restricted, Rawls refers to this idea as “The Maximin Rule” and assumes that every person is going to choose the least bad alternative in order to minimise their own discomfort in the event that they fall into a particular category with in society. Applied to political freedom this means no person would say women cannot vote or working classes cannot vote because according to Rawls they should assume not to know if they themselves are a woman or a working class citizen.

The second principle of justice or “Difference Principle” put forwards by Rawls refers to inequalities in society. He was aware the inequalities are inevitable in any society but he put forwards guidelines under which they could be deemed acceptable. He stated that all social and economic inequalities should be arranged so that they are still to the greatest benefit of the least advantageous and secondly that inequalities of positions in society should be equally attainable by all people. This too is defended by the original position. The person behind the veil of ignorance does not know what skills they possess and therefore cannot predict where they will stand in society; they will therefore want to insure that the socially and economically inferior are given the opportunity to improve themselves and be entitled to attain a higher position and also to know that in some compensation for the inequality there will still be some benefit to them in the long run. An example could be someone who wishes to become a doctor, the education required to achieve this requires tax money from economically inferior people but the doctor will eventually give back to society and provide the same people with medical attention they might need. At the same time each person has an equal opportunity to get an education and attempt to become a doctor if they so desired. Rawls therefore deduces that the right to equal respect and treatment is a condition of admission to the original position and he considers this right to be one which is “Owed to human beings as moral persons.” Norman Daniels explains that “The original positions is well designed to enforce the abstract right to equal concern and respect.” It is this, he adds, which is “The fundamental concept of Rawl’s deep theory.”

It seems that Rawls uses the original position to help his discussion and it greatly strengthens his argument since it allows him to demonstrate how he arrives at his two principles of justice. By removing morally irrelevant features and placing them behind a veil of ignorance it becomes clear that justice can be called fair. It can be applied to examples which illustrate the effectiveness of a society based on his principles and make it clearer and easier for his readers to understand. The society which Rawls arrives at seems to be a just, egalitarian one in which equal rights are given. Through his use of original position Rawls provides guidelines for what it is for a society to operate in a just manner.

“A Theory Of Justice” John Rawls (Harvard University press 1999)

“Critical study on Rawls’ ‘A Theory of Justice’ by Norman Daniels (Stanford University Press 1989)