Quick questions on Theories of distributive justice: QCE Philosophy and Reason

John Rawls, in A Theory of Justice (1971), is the most influential modern theorist. He asks what principles people would choose in an original position behind a veil of ignorance, where no one knows their class, talents, gender or conception of the good. Stripped of self-interested bias, rational parties would, Rawls argues, choose two principles:

Robert Nozick, in Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974), attacks Rawls from the libertarian right. His entitlement theory is historical, resting on three principles:

A utilitarian distributes so as to maximise total or average welfare (happiness). Because of the diminishing marginal utility of money (a dollar means more to a poor person than a rich one), utilitarianism often supports some redistribution. But it has no in-principle commitment to equality: if total welfare were maximised by an unequal distribution, utilitarianism would endorse it, which is the standard worry that it could license sacrificing a minority for the greater sum.

Explain Rawls's two principles of justice and the role of the veil of ignorance. [5 marks]

Outline Nozick's entitlement theory and the Wilt Chamberlain argument. [4 marks]

State one objection to the utilitarian approach to distribution. [2 marks]