5 Lessons from Rawls

On Justice as Fairness

By: Oswald Sobrino

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

American philosopher John Rawls wrote what is probably the most significant work of political and moral philosophy of the 20th century. In 1971, Rawls published his classic work A Theory of Justice, which elaborates his conception of "justice as fairness" in the basic social structure of society. Although the book is a work on theory and rigorously sets forth a system that can pass muster with other academics in the field, the theory is immensely practical because it shows how a stable, liberal constitutional democracy can be derived from reasonable assumptions that rational persons from all backgrounds can agree to through their representatives. Rawls proposes a hypothetical social contract situation descending from prior social contract theorists such as Locke and Kant in the Western tradition. In that hypothetical social contract situation, the representatives of the parties to the social contract decide on the features of justice without knowing the particular social class or other traits of those whom they represent. This intentional ignorance of the special interests of the parties is called the "veil of ignorance" to ensure that the just society does not arbitrarily favor one class or group over another. Rawls calls the setting for designing the social contract the "original position." Today, more than ever, with even the constitutional democracy of the United States itself at risk of disappearing, it is important to return to Rawls to inspire us to enthusiastically preserve the ideal of a just and fair society through a constitutional democracy guaranteeing basic liberties for all.