John Rawls And The Veil Of Ignorance Analysis

John Rawls is a great proponent of the natural rights theory. With his theory of the veil of ignorance, Rawls is of the idea that everyone has some rights that accrue to them by nature. Natural right is a philosophical perspective developed by Hobbes, and it portends that all living beings have rights, and these rights would make an individual act or fail to act in a certain way. The veil of ignorance by John Rawls is premised on the inviolable rights of an individual; this makes him fall under the natural rights theoretical concept. Rawls argues that to have a better society, it is important for individuals who are in a position to make decisions to act from a position of no knowledge of the nature of their decisions. At this …show more content…
According to Mills, the margin of good, described as utility should be used to achieve a balance between good and bad. He also contends that an action of sacrifice is only important when it aims at increasing utility, otherwise, the action is utterly useless and therefore a waste of time (Mill 148). In essence, a just action should strive to increase the good and reduce evil hence maximizing utility. At this point, the utilitarian theory and the veil of ignorance contrast, the justice according to Mills comes as a result of individuals making decisions that tend to achieve more good and reduce evil. This means that individuals are acting with knowledge and know exactly what is good or bad. This contrasts Rawls theory which contends that in order to ensure justice to the society and to enable individuals to identify themselves with the society, all decision makers should be operating from the original which is the veil of