Index: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Home > Veil of ignorance
The veil of ignorance is a concept introduced by John Rawls in A Theory of Justice. It is a method of determining the morality of a certain issue (e.g. slavery) based upon the following principle: imagine that societal roles were completely re-fashioned and redistributed, and that from behind your veil of ignorance you do not know what role you will be reassigned. Only then can you truly consider the morality of an issue. For example, whites in the pre-Civil War south did indeed condone slavery, but they most likely would not have done so had there been a re-fashioning of society because of which they would not know if they would be the ones enslaved. It is a philosophical idea related to the method of two people dividing a cake: one cuts, the other chooses first (see pie method).The veil of ignorance is part of the long tradition of thinking in terms of a social contract. See John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson and The Federalist Papers for examples of this tradition.
Read more »