Liberal Theory of Justice

Liberal Theory of Justice Name: Professor: Course: Institution: Date: A Theory of Justice is considered as among the most influential ethical and philosophical works. It was authored by John Rawls. Rawls tries to utilise the idea of the social contract to solve the widespread problem of social justice. Rawls directs his efforts towards reconciliation of equality and liberty. A Theory of Justice is seen as an attempt to come up with a philosophy of justice that will aid in the establishment of political structures for preserving liberty and social justice.In his attempt to solve the problem of distributive justice, Rawls came up with the theory of Justice as Fairness, from this; he derives his two principles of justice: the Difference Principle and the Liberty Principle. He develops the principles based on an Original position whereby everyone makes decisions on principles of justice under the veil of ignorance. It is this veil that makes people not to know all the facts about themselves as this is bound to influence their view about justice. The veil of ignorance is simply the ability to reason without influence from personal biases. Justice as Fairness is simply his conception about justice. Ignorance of the facts about oneself, according to Rawls, will eventually give rise to principles that are fair to everyone. People tend to treat each other equally if they are uncertain of where they may end up if they focussed on personal interests. In the Original position, people will adopt the two principles. This will control the way resources are distributed in the society. The difference principle only allows for unequal distribution of resources if this is beneficial to the less fortunate members of the society. Rawls further makes an arrangement of the p...