Research Paper on:
THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF RAWLS' THEORY OF JUSTICE

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
the Theory of Justice. Introduced by philosopher John Rawls in the early 1970s, the theory borrows heavily on the idea of social contract and equal liberty, pointing out that 1)  all individuals have a right to basic liberties that are compatible with others and 2) social and economic inequalities need to be arranged so the least-advantaged members of society can  benefit1. To support this theory, Rawls makes the assumption that all parties in a particular situation are "rational and mutually disinterested," in other words, theyre self-interested, but also will make  decisions to support justice2.; Perhaps the most compelling philosophy Rawls mentions in his theory is the idea that no one knows his (or  her) place in society, wealth, education and so on when it comes to making justice-for-all based decisions3. Rawls dubs this the "veil of ignorance" and points out that, when justice  decisions are made behind this veil, biases are automatically removed4. This makes sense - if someone makes decisions without knowing where he/she fits on the hierarchy of society, those decisions  are going to benefit more people and will be fairer to all. The takeaway from Rawls is that  1) Opportunities need to be open to all, regardless of background, birth or social class; 2) The best decisions for society  as a whole are made behind the veil of ignorance; and 3) That opportunity should be accorded to those with skills and natural  endowments, as opposed to all humanity. There is a lot to like about Rawls theory - Konow (2003), for example, in using justice