Key Arguments

• Rawls specifies that in the original position 'no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status', removing information that could bias choice of principles in favor of particular groups.
• The parties also do not know 'his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence, strength, and the like' or even their 'conceptions of the good or their special psychological propensities', screening off morally arbitrary facts.
• He characterizes this informational deprivation as a 'veil of ignorance', which ensures that 'no one is advantaged or disadvantaged in the choice of principles by the outcome of natural chance or the contingency of social circumstances'.
• Because 'all are similarly situated and no one is able to design principles to favor his particular condition', the selection of principles in this situation constitutes 'a fair agreement or bargain'.
• Rawls interprets the parties as 'moral persons, that is, as rational beings with their own ends and capable, I shall assume, of a sense of justice', so fairness is defined among equals in moral capacities.
• He calls the original position 'the appropriate initial status quo', so that the 'fundamental agreements reached in it are fair', explaining why the name 'justice as fairness' is appropriate.
• The fairness of the initial situation is meant to ground the legitimacy of the principles: they are principles to which persons can say they would have agreed under fair conditions, despite not literally having made such an agreement.

Source Quotes

It is understood as a purely hypothetical situation characterized so as to lead to a certain conception of justice. 12 Among the essential features of this situation is that no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status, nor does any one know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence, strength, and the like. I shall even assume that the parties do not know their conceptions of the good or their special psychological propensities.

12 Among the essential features of this situation is that no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status, nor does any one know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence, strength, and the like. I shall even assume that the parties do not know their conceptions of the good or their special psychological propensities. The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance.

I shall even assume that the parties do not know their conceptions of the good or their special psychological propensities. The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance. This ensures that no one is advantaged or disadvantaged in the choice of principles by the outcome of natural chance or the contingency of social circumstances.

The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance. This ensures that no one is advantaged or disadvantaged in the choice of principles by the outcome of natural chance or the contingency of social circumstances. Since all are similarly situated and no one is able to design principles to favor his particular condition, the principles of justice are the result of a fair agreement or bargain.

This ensures that no one is advantaged or disadvantaged in the choice of principles by the outcome of natural chance or the contingency of social circumstances. Since all are similarly situated and no one is able to design principles to favor his particular condition, the principles of justice are the result of a fair agreement or bargain. For given the circumstances of the original position, the symmetry of everyone’s relations to each other, this initial situation is fair between individuals as moral persons, that is, as rational beings with their own ends and capable, I shall assume, of a sense of justice.

Since all are similarly situated and no one is able to design principles to favor his particular condition, the principles of justice are the result of a fair agreement or bargain. For given the circumstances of the original position, the symmetry of everyone’s relations to each other, this initial situation is fair between individuals as moral persons, that is, as rational beings with their own ends and capable, I shall assume, of a sense of justice. The original position is, one might say, the appropriate initial status quo, and thus the fundamental agreements reached in it are fair.

For given the circumstances of the original position, the symmetry of everyone’s relations to each other, this initial situation is fair between individuals as moral persons, that is, as rational beings with their own ends and capable, I shall assume, of a sense of justice. The original position is, one might say, the appropriate initial status quo, and thus the fundamental agreements reached in it are fair. This explains the propriety of the name “justice as fairness”: it conveys the idea that the principles of justice are agreed to in an initial situation that is fair.

Key Concepts

• Among the essential features of this situation is that no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status, nor does any one know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence, strength, and the like.
• I shall even assume that the parties do not know their conceptions of the good or their special psychological propensities.
• The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance.
• This ensures that no one is advantaged or disadvantaged in the choice of principles by the outcome of natural chance or the contingency of social circumstances.
• Since all are similarly situated and no one is able to design principles to favor his particular condition, the principles of justice are the result of a fair agreement or bargain.
• for given the circumstances of the original position, the symmetry of everyone’s relations to each other, this initial situation is fair between individuals as moral persons, that is, as rational beings with their own ends and capable, I shall assume, of a sense of justice.
• The original position is, one might say, the appropriate initial status quo, and thus the fundamental agreements reached in it are fair.

Context

Development of the core device of the original position and veil of ignorance within the explanation of justice as fairness.