Analysis Of John Rawls 'Justice As Fairness'

“Justice means giving people what they deserve.” This is an interesting idea that has debated for much of human history, dating as far back as to great thinkers such as Aristotle. We may now ask, how would two modern, influential, political theorists respond to this notion? John Rawls’ “Justice as Fairness” and Robert Nozick’s “Anarchy, State, and Utopia” present theories that we can use to determine and make assumptions as to how these two figures would respond.
John Rawls’, “Justice as Fairness.” Rawls’ presents an account of justice in the form of two principles: (1) liberty principle= people’s “equal basic liberties” — such as freedom of speech, freedom of conscience (religion), and the right to vote — should be maximized, and (2) difference principle= inequalities in social and economic goods are acceptable only if they promote the welfare of the “least advantaged” members of society. Rawls writes in the social contract tradition. He seeks to define equilibrium points that, when accumulated, form a civil system characterized by what he calls “justice as fairness.” To get there he deploys an argument whereby …show more content…
Nozick suggests that “the fundamental question of political philosophy” is not how government should be organized but “whether there should be any state at all,” he is close to John Locke in that government is legitimate only to the degree that it promotes greater security for life, liberty, and property than would exist in a chaotic, pre-political “state of nature.” Nozick concludes, however, that the need for security justifies only a minimal, or “night-watchman,” state, since it cannot be demonstrated that citizens will attain any more security through extensive governmental intervention. (Nozick