John Rawls is a well-known political and ethical philosopher from the United States (US). In this regard, it is certainly interesting to know more about the figure of John Rawls.

Rawls is often described as one political philosopher most influential of the 20th century. He has an unusual distinction among contemporary political philosophers who has often been cited by courts in the United States and Canada.

Rawls’ theory of “justice as fairness” recommends equality of basic freedoms, equality of opportunity, and the facilitation of maximum benefit to the less advantaged members of society in all cases where inequality may exist.

John Rawls’ argument for these principles of social justice uses a thought experiment called “native position”, in which people deliberately choose what type of society to live in, if they do not know what social position they will personally occupy. .

Profile of John Rawls: childhood and upbringing

According to britishnica.com, John Rawls was born on February 21, 1921 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. He is famous for defending egalitarian liberalism in his book A Theory of Justice, published in 1971. He is considered the most influential political philosopher of the 20th century.

John Rawls is the second of five children. His parents were William Lee Rawls and Anna Abel Stump. Regarding his education, he attended Episcopal Preparatory School and Kent School. Later, Rawls was educated at Princeton University and received his bachelor’s degree in 1943.

Subsequently, he enlisted in the Army and served in the South Pacific Infantry until 1945. Then John Rawls returned to Princeton in 1946 and earned his doctorate. in moral philosophy in 1950.

Thanks to his expertise, John Rawls also had the opportunity to teach at Princeton from 1950 to 1952. Not only that, he also taught at Cornell University from 1953 to 1959, Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1960 to 1962 and at Harvard University.

Opinion of John Rawls in the books A theory of justice

Through his book titledA theory of justice‘, he defends the concept of justice as justice. John Rawls argues that justice cannot be obtained from utilitarianism. The reason is that this doctrine is consistent with a form of government which intuitively does not want the happiness of the majority to be achieved and ignores the rights and interests of minorities.

In the book, John Rawls also alludes to the social contract (social contracts). Rawls argues that justice consists of the basic principles of government that each person agrees to be “free” and “rational”.

To ensure that the chosen principle is fair, John Rawls envisions a group of individuals who do not understand their socio-economic status and background. John Rawls also envisions groups of individuals who ignore their core values ​​and goals, including the concept of the “good life”.

When in the unknown state or what Rawls calls the “starting position” (initial position), they will not be influenced by personal desires to benefit some of their respective social groups at the expense of other groups.

With this, they will not know the facts related to race, gender, religion, social class in society, age, economy, wealth, intelligence, income , abilities, talents, etc.

In the book, John Rawls wrote that everyone has the same right to the broadest freedoms. Freedom is equal freedom with others.

On the other hand, John Rawls also transmitted that social and economic inequalities must be regulated in such a way that they can bring the greatest benefits to those considered to be the most disadvantaged and that all positions or positions are open to all. Both of these things are pretty famous ideas of John Rawls.

The fundamental freedoms in the first notion consist of the rights and freedoms associated with liberalism and democracy. These freedoms are the freedom of thought and conscience, of association, the right to participate in government, the right to form and join political parties, the right to property, and the right and freedom to secure the rule of law.

The second freedom is social and economic. This freedom includes freedom of contract and any freedom beyond the fundamental freedoms described above.

This fundamental freedom which was enunciated by John Rawls cannot be violated under any circumstances, even if it increases the well-being, the economy or the incomes of the poor. Because, John Rawls also has a principle, don’t let the freedom you get take away the basic rights of others.

Then, still related to the two principles above, related to the same position or position or fair and equal opportunity in the struggle for the office, it means that people must have the basic means to participate in the competition. This includes a good education and good health.

John Rawls also conveys the “difference principle” in two principles. The difference principle or better known as ‘differential principle it requires that every distribution of income be made uniformly.

However, he also suggested that wealth and income inequality may be necessary for productivity levels to sustain and increase.

For John Rawls, Soviet-style Communism unfair. Because it is incompatible with most fundamental freedoms and does not give everyone a fair and equal chance of obtaining the desired position.

Moreover, he also has an opinion Pure laissez-faire capitalism not fair either. The reason is that it tends to result in an inequitable distribution of wealth and income or only for a handful of people.

If this continues, it will effectively deprive society of some or even most of the basic tools necessary for fair competition.

Outraged A theory of justice, John Rawls has also published several books. The book which is Political liberalism released in 1993, The Law of the Peoples and The idea of ​​public reason revisited in 1999. Lectures on the history of moral philosophy In 2000, Justice as fairness and A restatement in 2001, and Lectures on the history of political philosophy which was published posthumously in 2007.