Original scientific paper
The Difference Principle. The Key to a Just Democratic Society
Marita Brčić
orcid.org/0000-0001-8556-0696
; University of Split, Faculty of Philosophy, Split, Croatia
Abstract
With his theory of justice as fairness, American philosopher John Rawls has offered an egalitarian conception of justice for a democratic society. As a liberal he assumed that realization of justice in democratic society presupposes the principle of equal liberties and the principle of fair equality of opportunity. In addition to these two (classical) principles of justice, Rawls added the difference principle. The main task of this principle is to reduce all factors which are arbitrary from a moral point of view. The specificity of this principle, which requires reflection on the other two, distinguishes Rawls’ theory from the rest of liberal conceptions of justice. In Rawls’ philosophical development beginning with A Theory of Justice, over the Political Liberalism to The Law of Peoples with “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited” we can see a kind of renouncement in defense of the difference principle. It seems to be more of a practical renouncement because John Rawls has showed that the principle of difference is closely associated with the idea of human solidarity and building of self-esteem.
Keywords
John Rawls; difference principle; justice; self-esteem; solidarity
Hrčak ID:
62952
URI
Publication date:
21.7.2010.
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