John Rawls - Daniel Bonevacphilosophical.space/303/rawls.pdf · 2019-12-01 · John Rawls...

John RawlsThe Revival of Norms—Liberalism

Saturday, November 30, 19

Distributive Justice

• How the goods and responsibilities of society should be distributed among its members

• But keep in mind: many goods and responsibilities arise attached to particular people

• Who make the goods

• Who undertake the responsibilities

Welfare State

• The 1930s began the creation of the welfare state (New Deal)

• The 1960s expanded it (Great Society)

• The role of government changed

• From protecting citizens from harm and providing a framework for freedom

• To guaranteeing their welfare

• But guaranteeing one person’s welfare restricts the freedom of others

Government’s Role

• The 1960s saw a dramatic shift in the size and role of government

• Vietnam pushed defense spending higher, but only temporarily

• Domestic entitlement spending began a lasting pattern of increase

Social Security

Medicare

Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1964

• Johnson vastly increased spending on social programs

• “The Administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty.”

• Civil Rights Act

• Voting Rights Act

• Equal Opportunity Act

• Elementary and Secondary Education Act

• Medicare Act

• Rent Supplement Act

Great Society

Defense Spending

Spending Priorities

Defense vs. Entitlements

Federal Spending, Family of Four

• Social Security $10,027

• National defense 9,313

• Medicare 5,920

• Medicaid 4,341

• Welfare 3,705

• Unemployment 2,516

• Interest 2,432

• Veterans 1,615

• Transportation 1,379

• Education K-12 1,089

• Housing assistance 997

• Mortgage assistance 721

• Education, general 680

• Foreign aid 534

• Medical research 482

• Agriculture 430

• General government 396

• Police 373

• Community development 369

• Environmental protection 311

• Higher education 264

• Basic research 241

• Courts 238

• Energy 199

• Water supply 161

• Foreign military aid 128

• Prisons 100

• Public health 57

• Recreation 52

• Total $48,180

Welfare State

• What (if anything) justifies the welfare state?

• By 1970, it existed—but there was no theory behind it

• Locke, Madison, Jefferson: minimal state

• Rousseau, Marx: socialism, communism

• Democratic welfare state: ??

John Rawls (1921-2002)

• Justice as Fairness

• Principles of social justice are those that

• Free

• Rational

• Self-interested

• Equal

• persons would accept to govern their association

• What makes government authority legitimate?

• A government is legitimate if people would voluntarily submit to its authority

• Central idea: government (and its authority) are rational

The Social Contract

• Imagine two situations. Which would you choose?

• Government (the state) No government (the state of nature)

The State of Nature

Thomas Hobbes

• Hobbes was born prematurely in 1588, when his mother heard of the approach of the Spanish Armada

• You would, if given a choice, choose government

• Life in the state of nature would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”

• You would give up

• Liberty

• To gain

• Security

• The trade is rational

The Social Contract

• Key natural laws

• Seek peace

• Defend yourself

• Surrender some liberty for peace, keeping only as much as you will allow others against yourself

Natural Laws

• Hobbes’s idea of basing political authority on a hypothetical agreement—and thus on the rationality of living under authority—inspires two models of the social contract

• bottom-up model: John Locke

• top-down model: Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The Social Contract

• Rationality justifies government

• But also limits its authority

John Locke, 1632-1704

• Equality of power and jurisdiction

• Liberty, not license

• Law of nature: no one ought to harm another is his life, health, liberty, or possessions

State of Nature

• You have natural rights in the state of nature:

• Rights to life, health, liberty, and property

• Right of self-preservation

• Right to execute the law of nature

• Not a state of war

State of Nature

• Problem: finding an impartial arbitrator— who shall be judge?

• You would give up

• Your right to execute the law of nature

• You gain

• Impartial judgment

The Social Contract

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• (1712-1778): top-down model

• Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, On the Social Contract

• All rights issue from the state

• Changing institutions changes human nature

• You give up everything to gain everything

Social Contract Theory

• Any social contract theory specifies

• Ideal circumstances of choice

• Principles of choice

• What would be chosen

• What authority would and would not be granted to government

• What rules would we choose to govern our association?

Original Position

• Knowledge: know relevant facts about society, economics, politics, etc.

• Veil of ignorance: no one knows place in society, natural abilities, propensities, conception of the good

• Fairness: all equal; no contingencies affect choice (Kant)

Choice of Principles

• Ensure that everyone cooperates; everyone must benefit from arrangement (Rousseau)

• Reflective equilibrium: test principles against intuitions, adjust one or the other, try again

Principles of justice

• 1. Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others.

• Maximal equal liberty

• Basic liberties are those of citizenship:

• Political activity

• Speech

• Thought

• Property

• Rule of law

Principles of justice

• 2. Social and economic inequalities must be arranged so that they are

• Difference principle: Reasonably expected to be to everyone’s advantage

• Equal opportunity principle: Attached to positions and offices open to all

Injustice

• Injustice = inequalities not to the benefit of all?

• Is there anything wrong with A having more if it doesn’t harm B?

• Injustice = inequalities that harm the least advantaged

• There’s nothing wrong with inequality per se

• What we should care about is the welfare of the least advantaged

Injustice

• Imagine an equal distribution

• Q: What could make me willing to tolerate inequality—you having more than I do?

• A: A benefit to me

• If I’m harmed—nothing

• But if I’m not harmed?

Judging Distributions

• Rawls (Maximin): choose that with the highest minimum point

• Utilitarianism: choose that with the greatest area

• Marx: choose that which matches distribution of needs

• Rousseau: choose that with greatest area that stays within limits

• Safety net: choose that with greatest area that stays above lower limit

welfare

Less <–––––––––––––––––> More

War on Poverty

• Jack Kemp: “We fought a war on poverty, and the poor lost.”

• Rapid progress on reducing poverty before 1968

• Limited progress since

• Rapid increase in inequality since 1968—only partly mitigated by tax policy

Progress

• Someone at the poverty line in 1950 was better off than the average American in 1900

Inequality

• Policies: taxation, spending? But this has happened throughout the developed world, in all countries, under both left- and right-wing administrations

• Technology? Productivity increases—but why aren’t the rewards being spread more widely?

• Knowledge (Information) Economy? Rewards for education have risen.

• Globalization? Falling trade barriers and global markets have increased the impact of top management positions while decreasing wages for those in lower-skilled positions.

• Immigration? Lower-skilled immigrants compete with native workers for jobs, driving wages down, while increasing profits and rewards at the top.

John Rawls - Daniel Bonevacphilosophical.space/303/rawls.pdf · 2019-12-01 · John Rawls...

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