John Rawls And Utilitarianism

The social contract theory of John Rawls challenges utilitarianism by

pointing out the impracticality of the theory. Mainly, in a society of

utilitarians, a citizens rights could be completely ignored if injustice to this

one citizen would benefit the rest of society. Rawls believes that a social

contract theory, similar those proposed by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, would be

a more logical solution to the question of fairness in any government. Social

contract theory in general and including the views of Rawls, is such that in a

situation where a society is established of people who are self interested,

rational, and equal, the rules of justice are established by what is mutually

acceptable and agreed upon by all the people therein. This scenario of

negotiating the laws of that society that will be commonly agreed upon and

beneficial to all is what Rawls terms "The Original Position and Justification".

Rawls states that for this system to work, all citizens must see themselves as

being behind a "veil of ignorance". By this he means that all deciding parties

in establishing the guidelines of justice (all citizens) must see themselves as

equal to everyone paying no mind to there economic situation or anything else

that they could keep in mind to negotiate a better situation to those qualities.

For example, if everyone in this society has an equal amount of influence toward

the establishing of specific laws, a rich man may propose that taxes should be

equal for all rather than proportionate to ones assets. It is for this and

similar situations that Rawls feels that everyone must become oblivious to

themselves. Rawls believes that the foundational guideline agreed upon by the

those in the original position will be composed of two parts. The first of

these rules of justice being one that enforces equal rights and duties for all

citizens and the later of the two one which regulates the powers and wealth of

all citizens.

In the conception of utilitarianism possessed by Rawls, an impartial

spectator and ideal legislator are necessary components. The impartial

spectator is one who rational and sensitive to all of the desires of society.

The impartial spectator must feel these desires as if they were his own desires

and by doing such, give each of them priority over other desires and organize

them into one system from which the ideal legislator tries to maximize

satisfaction for all citizens by manipulating and adjusting the policy for that

society. By this theory of utilitarianism, Rawls argues that the decision

making process is being integrated into one conscience and that this system