ethics & morality · new to this edition
the veil of ignorance
design a society without knowing who in it you will turn out to be.
John Rawls asked the deepest question in political philosophy and answered it with an act of imagination. What rules for a society would you accept as fair? His insight: you will only judge fairly if you do not yet know how the rules will treat <em>you</em>. So step behind what he called the veil of ignorance.
behind the veil, which rule for distributing wealth do you choose?
You are about to be born into a society, but you do not yet know who you will be. You might be brilliant or slow, healthy or sick, born to wealth or to nothing, of any sex, race, or talent. Every position is possible, and you cannot tilt the odds toward yourself. From this position of perfect impartiality, you must choose the principle that will govern how the society shares its wealth and opportunity. Once you choose, the veil lifts and you become someone (anyone) under the rule you picked.
further reading
- original position stanford encyclopedia of philosophy
- veil of ignorance wikipedia