Question

What is the Rawls' solution to the age-old question of social

        (economic / distributive) justice?

        How does his celebrated "Difference Principle" work?

            NB: it is explained in the lecture; also the following from

                the page 11 of the reading can be referenced, where it is

                articulated as the 2nd sub-principle of the 2nd

                principle:

                   ... they are to be to the greatest benefit of the

                   least advantaged members of society (the difference

                   principle) ...

        Explain how it fares on 2-person utility space in prescribing a

        solution, in comparison to its rivalries, namely, Utilitarian

        and Egalitarian solutions.

Answer 1

Answer.

The theory of distributive justice pioneered by John Rawls is to compensate individuals for their misfortune so that they can brought at par with others in society who have more than sufficient proportion of resources. According to his idea of the difference principle, it is the responsibility of society including all of us collectively, to alter the distribution of goods and miseries that arise from the unequal scatter of social, economic and political resources. There are two sets of inequalities, Inequalities in genetic inheritance called deep inequalities among persons, those that are present from birth, in given social circumstances are justifiable while shallow inequalities that arise later in social institutions as a result of processes that are influenced by voluntary choice, are unethical and unjust and it is the latter category that creates misery for the less privileged in society.