I understand the concept of Rawl's "Original Position" and how it is supposed to help quide in developing a just society, but the fact of the matter is that humans are far too developed and intelligent to ever actually implement any rules based on the "Original Position." In today's society the majority of people are only looking out for themselves and pay little attention to those who are struggling in life. At the same time, I am guilty of helping myself over others in plenty of situations. Now not all of these things are significant for example taking the last slice of pizza is not that big of a deal in the scheme of life. My main point is that in order for the "Original Position" to actually work in respect to making a just society, the rules would have to be made at the very start of the society in which everyone is literally behind a "veil of ignorance." The problem I find with is, don't you think if there were humans intelligent enough to set up a society with rules, that they are intelligent enough to know what is good and what is bad for them. Thus this leads us back to people making rules that will benefit them more than others.
Steven Lippman
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I totally agree with your comments Steven. Your example of taking the last slice of pizza is a good one and can be also viewed on a larger scale. If someone's just hanging out with their friends and the last slice of pizza is there, and someone grabs it, like you said, its really not a big deal. Yet now imagine that the last slice of pizza was the remaining oil deposits left on Earth. The country with the most money and power is going to get that oil. Now you see where the problem lies. On a small scale the human nature problems of greed are not a problem, but put on a global scale, all humans want to do is tear each other down to get to the top.
ReplyDeleteI agree that people are selfish and are going to look out for what's in their best interest. People want to "get ahead in life" and increase their social status. Even celebrities work to further their careers and make more money. For example Lauren Conrad from the Hills and Laguna Beach recently published a best selling book that is going to be made into a movie, has her own clothing line that's expanded, and is writing a style guide. She is estimated at $12 million and still is coming out with new things to make herself even richer and more famous. It is a natural greed that leads us to seek advantages in life. People, for the most part, look after themselves first. Society will never be completely just because of this natural greed.
ReplyDeleteI actually agree with you on this point Steve. I too think that the "Origional Position" is prety much useless. I think it is because even if we all have a veil of ignorance, it would still fail. It would because what happens from this is pretty much communism, which as we all know failed.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you. The "original position" is not only impossible, it just simply would not work. People really do only look out for themselves and although it may not be fair, that is how it is. People are born into different situations and therefore benefit in different ways from society.
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