John Rawls and Utilitarianism Essay Example For Students

John Rawls and Utilitarianism Essay John Rawls and UtilitarianismHeath C. HoculockThe social contract theory of John Rawls challenges utilitarianism bypointing out the impracticality of the theory. Mainly, in a society ofutilitarians, a citizens rights could be completely ignored if injustice to thisone citizen would benefit the rest of society. Rawls believes that a socialcontract theory, similar those proposed by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, would bea more logical solution to the question of fairness in any government. Socialcontract theory in general and including the views of Rawls, is such that in asituation where a society is established of people who are self interested,rational, and equal, the rules of justice are established by what is mutuallyacceptable and agreed upon by all the people therein. This scenario ofnegotiating the laws of that society that will be commonly agreed upon andbeneficial to all is what Rawls terms The Original Position and Justification. Rawls states that for this system to work, all citizens must see themselves asbeing behind a veil of ignorance. By this he means that all deciding partiesin establishing the guidelines of justice (all citizens) must see themselves asequal to everyone paying no mind to there economic situation or anything elsethat they could keep in mind to negotiate a better situation to those qualities. For example, if everyone in this society has an equal amount of influence towardthe establishing of specific laws, a rich man may propose that taxes should beequal for all rather than proportionate to ones assets. It is for this andsimilar situations that Rawls feels that everyone must become oblivious tothemselves. Rawls believes that the foundational guideline agreed upon by thethose in the original position will be composed of two parts. The first ofthese rules of justice being one that enforces equal rights and duties for allcitizens and the later of the two one which regulates the powers and wealth ofall citizens. In the conception of utilitarianism possessed by Rawls, an impartialspectator and ideal legislator are necessary components. The impartialspectator is one who rational and sensitive to all of the desires of society. The impartial spectator must feel these desires as if they were his own desiresand by doing such, give each of them priority over other desires and organizethem into one system from which the ideal legislator tries to maximizesatisfaction for all citizens by manipulating and adjusting the policy for thatsociety. By this theory of utilitarianism, Rawls argues that the decisionmaking process is being integrated into one conscience and that this systemgives no mind to the individual whose rights and freedoms may be ignored becausethere beliefs are not widespread. He goes on to say Utilitarianism does nottake seriously the distinction between persons(Singer p. 339). Rawls argues that two principles of justice will emerge from thenegotiations of the original position: 1.each person is to have an equal rightto the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others,2.social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both (a)reasonably expected to be everyones advantage, and (b) attached to thepositions and offices open to all. The first of these two principles suggeststhat everyone have an equal say in the election of a government official andequal power over the policies put into effect by that official. However, thesecond seems to suggest that if it benefits society, then inequalities ofpolitical power are acceptable. Although somewhat contradictory, this seemsreasonable since getting the opinions of everyone every time an issue arosewould be, to say the least, inefficient. According to Rawls, justice asfairness is far more acceptable than utilitarianism. An example taken from TheEncyclopedia of Political Philosophy explains two situations, one acceptable byRawls and the other acceptable under utilitarianism. The first states thatslavery, (if beneficial to the slave as well as everyone else), is indeedacceptable according to Rawls. The second states that under utilitarianism, aslaves misery would not matter since overall satisfaction is increased. It isjust this reasoning that Rawls proves his theories superior. Rawls feels thatutilitarianism does not take into account the individual and pays too much mindto the general happiness. Rawls argues that in this case everyone would bebetter off with his social contract theory rather than utilitarianism sinceunder his theory general happiness would still be increased, but at the expenseof no one or few. Rawls believes that the happiness of many may indeed outweigh the happiness of the few, but to govern by this would be unfair and unjust. Australian Sports EssayUpon first exploring the original position of Rawls, one may find asituation that closely resembles the governing body of the United States whichhas proved to be successful and strong for a very long time, but as you readinto the theories of Rawls, it becomes a philosophy that resembles that ofMarxism. By this I mean that the difference principle of Rawls seems to besimilar to the redistribution of wealth that took place years ago in China. Marxists in China thought it better to put the power in the proletariat and takeaway from the upper class and scholarly. This is similar to the differenceprinciple defined by Rawls. At the time, for most of China, this seemed like agood idea that would put everyone on an equal level. As we all know, thissystem was, to say the least, very volatile and eventually failed. On the otherhand, In the U.S., a system that allows one to posses wealth that is self madeand some of what is inherited, has proved to be very successful. Our system ofgovernment resembles the theories of Rawls in the way that for the most part,wealth that is inherited is redistributed. This can be better explained byexamining a situation where a person generates wealth from hard work. Someonewho gains wealth on their own is entitled to there wealth as long as they cameabout it honestly according to Nozick. This seems to be the case with our ownlaws and guidelines of society. When this same person passes on and passest heir wealth on to the bequeathed, a portion of the estate goes to whomever thepassing arranged for. The rest however (a very sizable portion in fact) getsredistributed through taxes and subsequently public services. This instancewould appeal to Rawls. So it seems that the most practical out come is ahybrid of two philosophies. I agree with the original position proposed byRawls and that the parties involved would eventually come to a mutuallybeneficial social contract. However, I must agree with Nozick that Rawls failsto examine the true fairness of his theories. If Rawls were to consider, asNozick states, the manner in which assets were acquired, and then use thisconcept to further define his second principle of justice, then he would surlybe open to far less criticism.