As suggested by Rawls, the State is intended to maintain a fair structure of society, and not to impose its citizens a preferred lifestyle or a certain system of values. The state, therefore, is obligated to act in a neutral arbiter of conflicts and disputes of individuals who have different views about the good. The state should not give preference to any one of the individual positions. The requirement of neutrality of the state as a kind of logical conclusion and generalization of the liberal principle of religious tolerance is a key characteristic of liberalism. Thus, one of the main features of modern liberalism represented by Rawls - is the desire to justify philosophically liberal principles without relying on utilitarian ethics and assuming a neutral state. To justify his concept of liberalism, Rawls considers it necessary to return to the theory of the social contract. But in contrast to the classical version of the theory Rawls revises the concept of the social contract: for it is not an agreement about the subordination of society or the …show more content…
So, the first principle of Rawls - is essentially the principle of freedom. Basic freedoms are 1) political freedom (the principle of "equal participation" in the political process defined by the constitution), 2) the rule of law, or legal state 3) freedom of conscience. The second principle of justice of Rawls is formulated as follows that social and economic inequalities are to be settled in such a way as to lead to the greatest benefit of the least successful and that positions in society has to be open to all, with the subject of compliance with fair equal opportunity. Principles of justice Rawls relies on a strategy known in game theory as a "maximin" and implies the maximization of the minimum result. Thus, according to Rawls, the person in the original position inevitably chooses a society in which the least successful will be in the best possible position. Principles of justice require a strict hierarchy: the principle of equal liberty takes precedence over the principle of differentiation, and the latter - to the principle of equal opportunities. It is necessary to mention two concepts, which are also important principles: "saving" and "priority". The principle of saving obliges the people of each of the current generation to carry out the duty with regard to future generations, saving resources for them, providing