Philosophy › Contemporary › John Rawls, A Theory of Justice
The veil of ignorance
1971· Idea or argument· Politics, society & justice
Well documentedSolid records, texts or physical evidence.
Rawls' thought experiment: choose society's rules without knowing whether you will be rich or poor, talented or not, male or female.
See it on the Philosophy map →The idea
Idea: fair rules are those you would pick without knowing who you will be. Behind the veil you know general facts about society and human nature, but not your class, race, sex, talents or idea of the good life. Rawls argued a rational chooser would protect the worst position, since it might be theirs, and pick equal liberties and the difference principle. Main objection: John Harsanyi, who used a similar device in 1953, argued rational choosers would instead maximize average welfare, a utilitarian result.
Why it matters
It gives a simple, portable test for fairness that people use far beyond philosophy, in debates on taxes, health care and inheritance.
Think of it like
Like dividing a cake where one person cuts and the other chooses first: you cut fairly when you might get any slice.
Where it comes from
A Theory of Justice (1971), section 24, 'The Veil of Ignorance'. Rawls first sketched the contract idea in his 1958 paper 'Justice as Fairness'.
Still debated
Whether people behind the veil would really be so cautious about risk, the 'maximin' rule of guarding the worst case, is the main dispute.
Connections (2)
▸John Rawls, A Theory of Justice introduced The veil of ignoranceWell documented
The connection
Rawls needed to make the social contract fair: people who know they are rich would choose rules favoring the rich. So he put the contracting parties behind a veil of ignorance that hides their own position, so that self-interest and impartiality point the same way.
When and how
A Theory of Justice (1971), section 24; an early version appears in 'Justice as Fairness' (1958). The economist John Harsanyi had used a similar device in 1953 and 1955.
How we know
Rawls names and explains the device in the book itself, and returns to it in Political Liberalism (1993) and Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (2001).
Debates and open questions
Harsanyi's earlier version reached utilitarian conclusions, so who deserves credit, and which conclusion the device really supports, are still argued.
▸The veil of ignorance answers What is justice?Well documented
The connection
The veil turns 'What is justice?' into a choice problem: just rules are those you would pick not knowing who you will be. Rawls's answer, equal liberties plus inequalities only when they help the worst-off, stands with Plato's harmony and the utilitarian sum as one of the main answers.
When and how
A Theory of Justice (1971), answering a question Plato's Republic posed around 375 BC.
How we know
It is the most-cited modern answer in political philosophy, and courses and textbooks on justice routinely center on it.
Debates and open questions
Whether a fair procedure guarantees just results, and whether justice can be defined without first agreeing on what a good life is, remain contested.