The "veil of ignorance" is a device used by John Rawls to help the reader think about fairness in social contract theory. Behind the veil, you have no idea what position you would occupy in society, meaning that simple self-interest would motivate you to make that society as fair as...
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possible. Rawls says that behind the veil of ignorance, everyone would choose to follow the greatest equal liberty principle and the difference principle.
The greatest equal liberty principle maximizes freedom, stating that everyone should enjoy the greatest degree of freedom that is possible without impinging upon the freedoms of others. This means that behind the veil of ignorance, you would be guaranteeing yourself the greatest possible liberty.
The difference principle compensates for natural and socially constructed disadvantages, thereby maximizing equality of opportunity. It is more controversial than the greatest equal liberty principle, since it involves affirmative action. The veil of ignorance is particularly crucial here, since without it, you would know whether the difference principle would benefit you directly or not.
However, Rawls believes, behind the veil of ignorance, most people would want society to be equalized as far as possible, rather than allowing certain people to enjoy advantages based on arbitrary factors, such as the family into which they were born.
What two principles, according to John Rawls in A Theory of Justice, come from the "veil of ignorance?"Â
In John Rawls's A Theory of Justice, he offers an imaginative scenario in which people would have the opportunity to create a just society that they would have to live under. They would be, Rawls says, shrouded in a "veil of ignorance" about the role they would play in society. He claims that if people were actually put in this scenario, the rational choice would be to provide for one's own support should one wind up at the lower rather than the higher end of the social spectrum. By presenting this thought experiment, Rawls wants to show what type of society has a rational foundation:
Just as each person must decide by rational reflection what constitutes his good, that is, the system of ends that it is rational for him to pursue, so a group of persons must decide once and for all what is...just and unjust. The choice which rational men would make in this hypothetical situation of equal liberty...determines the principle of justice.
In this way, the "veil of ignorance" would lead to a justice that was founded on two essential principles. First, it would be a justice founded on individual liberty. Second, it would allow for a society where the least fortunate people were cared for by the rest of society. These principles were often held to be mutually exclusive, and by creating a thought experiment based on a "veil of ignorance," Rawls asserted that he had shown a way to reconcile them theoretically.
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