A Critical Analysis Of John Rawls’ Second Principle Of Justice

A Critical Analysis Of John Rawls’ Second Principle Of Justice

Abstract

John Rawls ’ “ A proposition of justice ” published in 1971, changed contemporary political proposition. In the book, John Rawls presented a reformulation of the social contract proposition of John Locke, Jean Jacque Rosseau and Immanuel Kant, furnishing a defense of the liberal state.

According to John Rawls, parties to a contract in an original position would accept two principles of justice to regulate the introductory structure of society. The two principles are;

1 Each person is to have an equal right to the most expansive system of equal liberties compatible with a analogous system of liberty for all.

Social and profitable inequalities are to be arranged so that they’re both;

A) To the topmost benefit of the least advantaged, harmonious with the just saving principle

B) Attached to services and positions open to all under conditions of fair equivalency of occasion.

The alternate principle being my point of focus, can be more understood in two orders, which are; fair equivalency of occasion and the difference principle.

John Rawls alternate principle of justice can be seen as a distributive justice.

The end of this work is to critically examine John Rawls alternate principle of justice, looking at the positive and negative aspects of the alternate principle of justice according to John Rawls.

The system that will be employed will be the logical critical system because that will feel as the stylish system if one is to duly assay John Rawls alternate principle of justice and completely condemn it.

Table Of Contents

Title Runner

Instrument

Fidelity

Acknowledgement

Abstract

Table of content

Chapter One

General Introduction

Background of study

Statement of problem

compass of study

Purpose of study

Significance of study

System Of Study

Literature Review

Endnotes

Chapter Two

WHAT LEAD TO JOHN RAWLS SECOND PRINCIPLE OF JUSTICE.

The original position

The robe of ignorance

Principles accepted

Endnotes

CHAPTER THREE

JOHN RAWLS ’ SECOND PRINCIPLE OF JUSTICE

Distributive justice

show equivalency of occasion

The difference principle

The system conducive to the consummation of the alternate principle of justice.

Endnotes

CHAPTER FOUR

notice OF JOHN RAWLS ’ SECOND PRINCIPLE OF JUSTICE

Positive notice on John Rawls ’ second principle of justice

Negative notice on John Rawls ’ second principle of justice

End notes

CHAPTER FIVE

Summary

Evaluation

Conclusion

Endnotes

Bibliography

Chapter One

General Introduction

Background Of Study

In the history of gospel, the issue of justice has always been a serious debate. The debate is each about what the conception ‘ justice ’ means and how it can be attained in a society. Thrasymachus, an ancient Greek champion, equated justice with ‘‘ might is right ’’. According to Christopher Stolleri, ‘’ Justice is a conception that’s balanced between law and morality ’’ 1. Morality has to do with the rightness or impropriety of an action. Laws are laid down principles that guide a society and they can be used for the good or bad of a nation’s citizens. For Joseph Omoregbe, ‘’ the foundation of Justice is the abecedarian equivalency of all men ’’ 2. Justice is applied in a society so that there will be peace and harmony in the society. A society is an total of people living together in a more or less ordered community.

From this, colorful proponents gave their colorful propositions of how justice can be attained in the society.

Socrates, a Greek champion, felt that justice can be attained in a society when wisdom is employed. For Plato, it’s when proponents are lords in the society. According to Karl Marx, a just society is a cloddish society which he appertained to as communism. John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham are of the view that we arrive at a just society when the society acts to give ‘’ the topmost good for the topmost number ’.

John Rawls handed his own proposition of justice by censuring the utilitarian view of justice because it can be abused, leading to the ‘’ despotism of the maturity ’’( Nazi Germany’s mistreatment of the Jews and the United States mistreatment of African Americans) 3. Rawls ’ approach guards against this common source of injustice.

Principles of justice are the principles that rational and free persons that are concerned to further their interests would accept in an original position of equivalency as defining fundamentals of the term of their association.4 In his book, ‘ A proposition of Justice ’, like Plato, Rawls imagines a political society structured on principles of justice, a just society where nothing complains of injustice, a society governed by principles of justice.

From the below, John Rawls came up with his own idea of a just society by furnishing two principles that can guide a society to attain the state of a just society. He did this by giving a proposition of the people in the original position wearing a robe of ignorance that they would not be partial. One of John Rawls ’ primary end was to set forth the applicable moral generality that was more suited to interpreting the popular values of freedom and equivalency than the reigning utilitarian tradition.

It’s in the light of this background that my exploration intends to critically dissect the principles that John Rawls gave to guide us to a just society. In order to achieve this, I shall consider the following the people of the original position, the robe of ignorance and the principles accepted, substantially fastening on his alternate principle of justice.

Statement Of The Problem

The alternate principle countries that social and profitable inequalities are to be arranged so that they’re both( a) to the topmost benefit of all the least advantaged, harmonious with the just saving principle,( b) attached to services and positions open to all under conditions of fair equivalency of occasion.

colorful problems arise, for case, can there ever really be equal openings given the fact that nature itself isn’t equal? Is it fair for effects to be participated inversely when people don’t give the same share to the society? How do the individualities gain possession of goods?

Although John Rawls ’ principle of justice is an enhancement from some other results to the problem of justice, the question is, can we say that John Rawls ’ second principle of justice is acceptable in guiding a society to a state where it can be regarded as a just society? Can it be widely accepted? These questions are the core areas of this study.

Compass Of The Study

This study will concentrate primarily on John Rawls ’ second principle of justice, but before also, I shall view the way that led to accepting the principle and I shall also give a notice of John Rawls ’ second principle of justice.

Although my exploration will be far and wide, the compass of this study still shall be limited entirely on John Rawls alternate principle of justice.

Purpose Of The Study

This study aims at furnishing better understanding of John Rawls alternate principle of justice, by assaying it. There will also be a notice of John Rawls ’ second principle of justice so that the tenability of the principle can be assessed. By understanding John Rawls ’ second principle of justice more and viewing the colorful reviews, we can eventually be suitable to estimate and pass a judgment if it can really guide a society to getting a just society.

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

This study helps to give a full understanding of John Rawls ’ second principle of justice, taking note of its positive and negative side without accepting it dogmatically. Rawls argues that his principles of justice should be used to assess the justice of factual social institutions, similar as political government that govern mortal being.

We can decide if John Rawls ’ second principle can guide a society into a just society. With this design, after critically assaying John Rawls ’ second principle of justice, we can decide for ourselves if it’s the answer to the problem of our present day society or if it’s just another proposition to be disregarded.

system OF STUDY

In this design, I shall employ the logical cum critical system. I shall calculate on data collection from textbook books, papers, journals, the internet and any other source applicable to this design content. This system will help us to completely understand John Rawls ’ second principle of justice and pose some critical question.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The first book reviewed is penned by John Rawls himself, named “ proposition of Justice ’’ published in 1971 by Harvard University Press. I reviewed this book for the egregious reason that it was written by John Rawls himself. This book gave us a immediate view of John Rawls ’ principle of justice.

Another book reviewed is by Samuel Freeman named “ Rawls ” published in 2007 by Freeman, projected an understanding of Rawls ’ work. He gave attention to every detail and this is as a result of his mindfulness of the overall structure of the proposition and the philosophical significance of Rawls ’ grand strategy.

I also reviewed a book by Joseph Omoregbe named “ Social- Political Philosophy and International Relations ” published in 2007 Lagos. This book gave an in depth meaning of justice, it also emphasized the idea of distributive justice in which John Rawls alternate principle of justice can be classified under. From there, Omoregbe breaks down John Rawls ’ idea of the principle of justice.

Another book that was reviewed is by Paul Graham named “ Rawls ” published in 2007 by One World thinkers. In this book, Paul Graham gave his own interpretation and understanding of John Rawls ’ work.

I also reviewed a book by Stumpf and Abel named “ rudiments of gospel ” published in 2002 by McGraw- Hill. This book gives a clear and simple explanation of John Rawls ’ book. “ A proposition of justice ”, give excerpts from the book.

Another of Joseph Omoregbe’s book “ A Simplified History of Western gospel ” was also reviewed. It was published in 1991 at Ikeja, Lagos. This book gave a more elaborate understanding of John Rawls principles of justice, by giving us the four systems which Rawls examine to see which of them is conducive to the consummation of the alternate principle which demands that the least advantaged the poor, is always favoured by any change or socio- profitable arrangement in society.