Veil of ignorance
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The veil of ignorance is a concept introduced by John Rawls in A Theory of Justice.[1][2] It is a method of determining the morality of a certain issue (e.g. slavery) based upon the following principle: imagine that societal roles were completely re-fashioned and redistributed, and that from behind your veil of ignorance you do not know what role you will be reassigned. Only then can you truly consider the morality of an issue. For example, whites in the southern United States, pre-Civil War, did indeed condone slavery, but they most likely would not have done so had there been a re-fashioning of society so that they would not know if they would be the ones enslaved.
An important feature of this thought-experiment is that you don't get to keep any aspects of your current role, even aspects that are an integral part of your self. As put by John Rawls himself ..."no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status; nor does he know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence and strength, and the like" (Rawls, A Theory of Justice). For example, in the imaginary society, you might or might not be intelligent, rich, or born into a preferred class. Since you may occupy any position in the society once the veil is lifted, this theory encourages thinking about society from the perspective of all members.
The veil of ignorance is part of the long tradition of thinking in terms of a social contract. See Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson and The Federalist Papers for examples of this tradition. It also has obvious roots in - and addresses some of the critiques of - the widespread religious concept of The Golden Rule.
See also science fiction writer David Barr Kirtley's examination of this concept in his short story, "Veil of Ignorance."
[edit] Extension
This intragenerational veil of ignorance, has been extended to an intergenerational veil of ignorance by "Kneese and Schulze 1985"[3], where also the generation in which you live is unknown. It is used in the context of environmental economics and the possibility of intergenerational compensation.
[edit] References
- ^ John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press, 1971. ISBN: 0-674-00078-1
- ^ John Rawls, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press, 2001.
- ^ Schulze, William and Allen Kneese, (1985). “Ethics and Environmental Economics.” Chapter 5 in Allen V. Kneese and James L. Sweeney, eds, Handbook of Natural Resource and Energy Economics.
