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I'm not
sure that Rawls is correct that his second principle would be agreed
to by the people in the Original Position. There are other
possibilities that are at least as plausible.
Virginia Held, for example, argues that justice does not
require us to go as far as Rawls goes. In her view, justice requires
that people should have economic rights to whatever is needed for
"basic necessities, a decent life, adequate self-development, and
equal liberty, but not to a certain share in the whole of the
economic product of a society. Beyond what is needed for a decent
life, adequate self-development, and equal liberty, we have economic
interests but not moral rights." [Virginia Held, Rights and
Goods
, p. 184.]
Rawls would prevent any increase in inequality, no matter how
much it benefits some people, if it does not benefit the worst off
group in society. Held's does not require this. Once the
minimum required by justice has been provided for all, our rights do
not place a limit in inequality. Beyond the minimum required by our
economic rights, economic activity should be judged on "teleological
grounds." p. 186.
I don’t know whether I agree with either view; but I think
Held's view is at least as plausible as Rawls'. How do we know that
the people in the Original Position would reject Held's
view?
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