RECONSIDERING SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES: A CRITICAL STUDY ON JOHN RAWLS’S DIFFERENCE PRINCIPLE

Date

2024-8

Author

Nehri, Ertuğrul

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In American philosopher John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice, it is argued that a number of principles, with a hierarchical relationship between them, should regulate social and economic inequalities. The difference principle, which is at the bottom level of these principles but undertakes the main regulatory function, stipulates that inequalities can only be accepted if they benefit the least advantaged members of society. This radical proposal has been taken in many ways. Some critics argued that the difference principle would exacerbate and deepen social and economic inequalities contrary to its intended purpose. They stressed the inadequacy of the principle regarding its structure, which only includes institutional mechanisms rather than individual measures. Others pointed out that the principle should not embrace outdated and ineffective economic argumentation and faulty decision rules. The definition of the least advantaged from a highly deterministic point of view has also been criticized. This thesis analyses the respective interpretations provided by Cohen, Dworkin, Harsanyi, and Reiff regarding the difference principle. The thesis also includes responses that can be derived from Rawls’s text to these critiques.

Subject Keywords

John Rawls, Difference Principle, Social and Economic Inequalities, Maximin Principle, Distributive Justice

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/110598

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Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis