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Rawls’ theory is oriented toward liberalism and forms the basis for what law
enforcement, and the criminal justice system, should strive for in a pluralistic and
liberal society. Borrowing from some concepts of social contract theory, Rawls envisions
a society in which the principles of justice are founded in a social contract. However,
Rawls identifies problems with the social contract that do not allow fairness and equality
to exist among members of society and therefore proposes a social contract which is
negotiated behind a “veil of ignorance.” Here the negotiating participants have no idea
what their race, gender, education, health, sexual orientation, and other characteristics
are so that the social contract is fair. Ultimately, Rawls argues that the primary concern
of justice is fairness, and within this paradigm Rawls identifies two principles:
1. “Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible
with a similar liberty for others” (Rawls, 2006, p.63). Rawls goes further by allowing
each person to engage in activities, as long as he or she does not infringe on the rights of
others.
2. “Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both (a) reasonably
expected to be to everyone’s advantage
(b) attached to positions and offices open to all…” (Rawls, 2006, p.63). Likewise,
everyone should contribute to the wealth of society and everyone should receive benefits
from the distribution of that wealth. Rawls does not argue that everyone should be paid
the same, but rather that everyone should have benefit from a fair income and have
access to those jobs that pay more.
These principles should be adhered to, according to Rawls, to ensure that disadvantages
are neutralized and everyone receives the same benefits of justice.
Rawls further addresses ethics in the individual, though this is not the central tenet of
his theory, and is somewhat of a general statement of how moral people should behave
(Banks, 2013).
Hunter DrakeFollow
Project Coordinator at USF Health Pediatric Infectious Disease
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John Rawls’ liberal philosophy on laws and social institutions describes them as, in their nature,
being justice seeking. He speaks of justice as a principle based on fairness, thus rejecting the
utilitarian idea of the greater good. He goes on to define society as a closed system of persons
with general agreement on a set of rules that are designed to produce a furtherance or betterment
of the society through cooperative interaction. If this cooperation results in a societal
improvement, then the subject of justice must be introduced to handle the fair distribution of or
access to the betterment.
For Rawls, justice is not arbitrary, prejudiced, or preferential. He feels that from the original
position, or natural state of man, all members of society are equal. Justice, in this framework,
finds itself concerned with the relative scarcity of goods and man’s propensity to prefer self-
advantage. In practice, Rawls’ justice ensures that all members share the same freedoms and that
holding advantageous office or position is a prospect open to all.
From the springboard of the original position, he employs a hypothetical tool, the veil of
ignorance. Rawls posits that the only way that persons can formulate laws that are fair is to be
devoid of any knowledge of their individual characteristics. This policy restricts the introduction
of personal advantage. Being blind to one’s situation promotes the generation of laws or
institutions that will not benefit one man over another.
Robert Nozick’s libertarian, entitlement theory of distributive justice presents a radical departure
from the more hypothetical ideas of John Rawls. It is a decidedly historical, practical approach to
defining the role of justice. Nozick was an advocate for the minimal state. He would think that
any state that takes on more than the defense of its people causes injury to personal freedom. It is
the acquisition and transfer of goods that is the concern of his theory of distributive justice. He
argues that if the principles of justice are observed when acquiring holdings, then the acquisition
of the holding is just and entitled. For instance, if an item is unheld, and one acquires it, then it is
a just acquisition. He also states that held items may be the subject of just transfer between
people by means of trade or service. If one follows his inductive argument implicitly, then it
holds that the natural distribution of holdings would be just. Further, he states that the resulting
situation, being just, has no need for manipulation by any state. He also does a precursory
explanation of the rectification of injustice in holdings, should the principles of the original
acquisition of holdings, or the transfer of holdings be violated.
Nozick compares his historical, entitlement distribution of goods against “current time-slice”
principles of distribution. He cites welfare economics as an example, a seeking of a fair “end-
result” distribution. He finds looking at only our current situation to be unjust. Perhaps
disadvantaged persons are getting their just desserts. To preserve justice in Nozick’s eyes, one
must look at the whole historical accounting of things.
Nozick also discusses that there are patterns in distribution that can arise either justly, by
following his principles regarding just holdings, or by the intentional impression of a distributive
matrix by a state. He describes the fall of a hypothetical socialist state that occurs when one
person engages in capitalist acts, earning such money that others would leave the socialist
industry to engage in private enterprise as well. This circumstance would mandate that the
socialist state ban capitalist commerce in the name of self-preservation. It is this engaging of a
role by the state other than the defense of its people that is of paramount concern to Nozick. The
takeaway is that no distribution of holdings other than a natural distribution that occurs by
preserving justice in acquisition and transfer can be just. Also, it follows, that any action by a
state to redistribute holdings to which people have entitlement is an affront to personal liberty.