The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance.
Interpretation
Justice should be based on fairness without bias or knowledge of one's own social standing.
John Rawls' quote emphasizes the idea that the principles of justice should be determined without any knowledge of personal circumstances or biases. This 'veil of ignorance' forces individuals to consider the fairness of their decisions and structures, leading to a more equitable society where rights and responsibilities are allocated without favoritism or self-interest.
In practice
During a discussion on ethics, one might quote Rawls to highlight the importance of impartiality in decision-making.
The perspective of eternity is not a perspective from a certain place beyond the world, nor the point of view of a transcendent being; rather it is a certain form of thought and feeling that rational persons can adopt within the world ... Purity of heart, if one could attain it, would be to see clearly and to act with grace and self-command from this point of view.
The bad man desires arbitrary power. What moves the evil man is the love of injustice.
Justice is the first virtue of social institutions.
The naturally advantaged are not to gain merely because they are more gifted, but only to cover the costs of training and education and for using their endowments in ways that help the less fortunate as well.
The natural distribution is neither just nor unjust; nor is it unjust that persons are born into society at some particular position. These are simply natural facts. What is just and unjust is the way that institutions deal with these facts.
Many of our most serious conflicts are conflicts within ourselves. Those who suppose their judgements are always consistent are unreflective or dogmatic.
What if I told you insane was working fifty hours a week in some office for fifty years at the end of which they tell you to p*ss off; ending up in some retirement village hoping to die before suffering the indignity of trying to make it to the toilet on time? Wouldn't you consider that to be insane?
It is far more important to me to preserve an unblemished conscience than to compass any object however great.
The people recognize themselves in their commodities; they find their soul in their automobile, hi-fi set, split-level home, kitchen equipment.
Women are the most denigrated social group in the Soviet Union. The idea of women's emancipation is only a slogan in - but also, I should say, in many places outside - the Soviet Union. But especially in the militaristic Soviet society, people only thought of life in terms of struggle and the workers' toil.
In thinking about religion and society in the 21st century, we should broaden the conversation about faith from doctrinal debates to the larger question of how it might inspire us to strengthen the bonds of belonging that redeem us from our solitude, helping us to construct together a gracious and generous social order.
A private relationship of worshiping God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness.
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