Justice, Liberty, and Equality

A Theory of Justice by John Rawls is first and foremost about justice, as the concept is discussed throughout the book. The theme of justice, however, is never discussed without the accompanying themes of liberty and equality. The very first principle of Rawls’s theory states that “each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive scheme of equal basic liberties,” and the priority principle is repeatedly applied to the question of liberty. That is, equal basic liberty can only be curtailed for another equal basic liberty, never for any other calculations of social or economic advantage. The basic liberties are political liberty of voting and standing for office; freedom of speech and assembly; liberty of conscience and freedom of thought; freedom of the person, which includes freedom from psychological oppression and physical assault and dismemberment; the right to hold personal property; and freedom from arbitrary arrest and seizure as defined by the concept of the rule of law.

Justice as fairness is the form of justice a rational human being would choose if they were removed from considerations of their own social position and the advantages that would accrue from this. Such a hypothetical ignorance of their social standing is what is proposed in the “original position” by Rawls, where people make decisions about just practices from behind a “veil of ignorance.” Although Rawls’s conception of justice is based on earlier contract theories such as those of Rousseau and Locke, Rawls’s hypothesis of an “original position” replaces the “state of nature” of the earlier conceptions. It appears more sound and more likely to produce a fair perspective for developing just social institutions.

Equality is emphasized at every discussion of justice, as equal distribution of all social values of liberty, opportunity, income, wealth, and the social bases of self-respect is the starting point for justice, and any unequal distribution of these can be justified only if it is to everyone’s advantage. Inequalities that are not to everyone’s benefit are classed as injustice and must be dealt with accordingly, by making the necessary changes in laws and institutions. Thus, justice, liberty, and equality remain the abiding themes of Rawls’s book.

Social Cooperation, Basic Structure, and the Well-Ordered Society

Rawls declares at the very outset that he is not concerned so much with a generic philosophical conception of justice as he is with social justice. Thus, the theme of social cooperation, along with basic structure and the nature of a well-ordered society, features repeatedly in the text. He writes,

For us the primary subject of justice is the basic structure of society, or more exactly, the way in which the major social institutions distribute fundamental rights and duties and determine the division of advantages from social cooperation. By major institutions I understand the political constitution and the principal economic and social arrangements.

It is thus obvious that the basic structure of society covers the institutions that form the focus of part 2 of the book. Rawls explains that the principle of justice provides in the first instance a standard by which the distributive aspects of a basic structure of society are to be studied. The principles of justice play a part in the assigning of rights and duties and in defining the appropriate division of social advantages. Such a division is not possible without social cooperation and public agreement around laws applicable to all.

Rawls makes reference to a well-ordered society in the context of how a sense of justice is acquired by its members. A well-ordered society is one designed to advance the good of...