What is the connection to Utilitarianism?.
I"m sure you've heard the phrase, "Beyond the point of no return". To that end and as my luck turns out, Rawls's theory of justice does not represent what would be construed as a traditional Utilitarianism philosophy. In fact, his theory actually opposes Utilitarianism, as you"ll recall, by placing importance on human rights, moreso than what's best. In an effort to meet this writing requirement, I"ll attempt to bridge the gap between the two philosophies in a manner that somewhat places them on the same side of the playing field.
RAWLS"S CONTRACTARIAN THEORY.
Before going into the specifics on Rawls's Contractarian Theory, it's important to explain a very key fundamental element that follows his philosophical model throughout, and that is, a term called "A Veil of Ignorance". One might be able to assertain its meaning, but for clarity, it's simply defined in loose terms, as the ability of humans to screen out self interest. To provide additional backdrop to the concept, this screening ability spans across several factors, such as their class, skills, age, sexuality, and religion. His theory is made up of four distinct elements that ask the following questions:.
Who chooses? h What's chosen? h With what knowledge? h With what motivation?.
Who Chooses?.
This concept addresses the audience that is responsible for rendering decisions that alter and or affect the lively hood of our members of society. In Rawls's view, the person that chooses is one that properly represents his or her individualism's, rather than those associated with any sort of institution. A key factor, as always to remember, is that this representative group must adhere to the Veil of Ignorance methodology, which I"ll address and critique in my personal assessment of his theory.
What's Chosen?.
Secondly, this concept addresses the choices that are made by the individuals selected to represent the rights of our population as defined in the section directly above.