Ariadne's Thread on Justice
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John

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Two Principles of Justice

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Ann Speaking
So far I think the principles are vague and ambiguous. They tell us something, but not a lot. Rawls himself admits that they are subject to several different interpretations -- especially the second principle. 

Here's the first version of the second principle that John gave us:

"[S]ocial and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both (a) reasonably expected to be to everyone's advantage, and (b) attached to positions and offices open to all"

What might this mean? According to Rawls, each of the two parts of this principle is open to two common interpretations. These interpretations can be combined into four possible combinations, Rawls adopts one of these and calls it "democratic equality."

According to the view called "democratic equality," the phrase "to everyone's advantage" means that no increase in inequality is just unless it maximizes benefits for the worst off group. The phrase "open to all" is interpreted to mean that there is "fair equality of opportunity" -- and this means roughly that "those with similar abilities and skills should have similar life chances."

I hope this gives us a more concrete (and less ambiguous) idea of what Rawls' principles mean.


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