Exotic Journeys: A Tourist's Guide to Philosophy

brought to you by Ron Yezzi

Emeritus Professor of Philosophy

Minnesota State University, Mankato

© Copyright 1986, 2015, 2020 by Ron Yezzi

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Author's Note: This account is adapted from Ron Yezzi, Directing Human Actions: Perspectives on Basic Ethical Issues (Lanham: University Press of America, 1986) pp.246 - 267.

Topics

Rawls

Justice and the Basic Structure of a Well-Ordered Society

The Original Position and the Veil of Ignorance

The Two Principles of Justice

The Maximin Rule

The Difference Principle

Basic Institutions

Political Liberalism

Nozick

The Entitlement Theory of Justice

Replies to Some Objections

Comparison of Positions

Rawls, Nozick, and Envy

Some Ojections and Possible Replies

Thought Excursions

Individuals and Society:

Rawls and Nozick

Both Marx and Dewey reject attempts to settle the issue of the individual and society by reference to a fundamental "social contract" among independent individuals—as occurs, for example, in the thought of Hobbes and Rousseau―because they reject such a vision of the origins of society. In recent twentieth century philosophy however, there has been a revival of social contract theory. Although ending with fundamental disagreements, the philosophers John Rawls and Robert Nozick both take a social contract approach in dealing with the relations of the individual to society. In Rawls' case, the social contract approach is quite explicit; in Nozick's case, it is not so much intended as it is a de facto result of individuals entering into associations in order to protect themselves.