John Rawls 1921 2002 Influenced by Kant concrete way to determine whether our acts are just By Mill Good must ultimately be measured by the overall happiness of the society Also Gilligan and other Feminist Philosophers Ethics of Care Justice as Fairness Integration of Equity and Caring The Veil of Ignorance A thought experiment cannot actually be done o Option A Zero resources o Option B Two extremes either Unlimited resources wealth healthcare etc or Two extremes either 1 mil a year or 30 000 a year o Example everyone picks a slip of paper out of a hand that determines which of the two extremes a person will have to live under Rawls calls it a no brainer that anyone would rather pick Option B because there is a 50 chance that you could receive the lower end of the range Difference Principle Differences in resource distribution are tolerable if they benefit the least well off o Example Fast Food Cashier v Doctor If the two jobs were paid the same amount then there would not be many doctors due to the fact that the workload to become a doctor is tedious Why become a doctor if you could make the same amount flipping burgers That is where taxation of the variable income levels comes into play Robert Nozick 1938 2002 1 A colleague of Rawls Libertarian 2 Justice as Liberty John Locke 1632 1704 Theory of Property o Human beings are entitled to the maximum of freedom and the minimum of government control Life Choices like Drug use marriage bans right to bear arms and other maximal human choices Property right to ownership and ability to keep it 3 We have the right to own whatever we mix our labor with o Example You to an empty plot of land that no one has ownership of so you set up some fences build a house in its borders and called it home Since you did all the work to make it your home means no one should be able to come and take it away from you There are only 3 things that taxation can be used for 1 Contracts using tax money to setup a court system to settle disputes in contracts 2 Defense an owner of property should not have to worry about their property being attacked or taken away Police Army etc 3 Education educates people to understand how these things should work Grade school On Taxation college etc Nozick 1 Taxation used for anything other than the above is considered stealing o Example welfare food stamps universal healthcare environmental protection o Justice as Fairness advocates stealing 2 The Veil of Ignorance is not realistic o Provides no incentive to work The rich and well off already have all the money they need The poor and least well off hold out their hands for donations o This would destroy any work ethic
View Full Document