A Theory of Justice
Fair principles are chosen without knowing one's social position, protecting liberty and assessing inequality from the least advantaged standpoint.
Rawls frames justice around the basic structure of social institutions.
Imagine agreeing to society's rules before knowing where you will stand inside them. Rawls uses that distance from personal advantage to ask which protections people could reasonably accept together.
The original position models a fair situation for choosing principles.
A veil of ignorance removes knowledge of particular advantages and identities.
Equal basic liberties receive priority within the proposed principles.
Opportunities must be genuinely fair, not merely formally available.
Equal opportunity means more than leaving a door technically unlocked. Education, background, and practical access affect who can reach it, so fairness must examine conditions as well as formal permission.
The difference principle evaluates inequalities through benefits to the least advantaged.
Social cooperation is treated as involving free and equal persons.
Reflective equilibrium compares principles with considered judgments and revises both.
Stability requires citizens able to support a shared conception of justice.
The theory disputes making aggregate welfare the sole standard of fairness.