Some Remarks on Contractarian Justification of the Principles of Justice by John Rawls

Keywords: John Rawls, theory of justice, basic social structure, requirements for justification (keywords supplied by the editors)

English abstract: This paper addresses the issue of whether the justification concerning the principles of justice adopted by Rawls allows for modifying morally significant differentiations found in the basic social structure. The idea of basic social structure as understood by Rawls is explained, and the requirements for justification assumed by Rawls are characterized. Theses requirements are determined by intuitive beliefs concerning justice; whereas such beliefs stipulate certain factors as being morally significant. The analysis of Rawls’s argument indicates that his justification with respect to the principles of justice is based on the criterion of benefit. This leads to privileging these conditions which according to the intuitive beliefs concerning justice should not be privileged. The original position of social groups, however, is not included within the framework of the justification mechanism, and so it requires revaluation for the same reasons as the previously mentioned issue.

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