Ethics Group4

JOHN RAWL’S
THEORY
OF JUSTICE
GROUP-4
THE PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE
ARE CHOSEN BEHIND A VEIL
OF IGNORANCE.
- JOHN RAWL-
Aware of the fact that the prevailing moral
contemporary period was utilitarianism, John
Rawls desired to provide an alternative moral
system.
 Utilitarianism had been dominating the Anglo-

Saxon tradition of political thought and John
Rawls wanted to find an alternative to the
utilitarian principle of the happiness of the
greatest number because of its weakness.
THE LIFE
THE LIFE OFOF
JOHN RAWL
JOHN RAWL
John Bordley Rawls
 was an American political and ethical philosopher
 He was born on February 21,1921, in Baltimore.
 He was the second of five sons of William Lee, who was a

prominent lawyer and Anna Rawls. His maternal
grandparents came from affluent families, who lived in
an exclusive suburb Baltimore
 During the 1960s, Rawls spoke against America’s
military actions in Vietnam. The Vietnam conflict led
Rawls to analyze the problems and the faults in the
American political system.
 Rawls considered the Vietnam conflict to be an unjust

war and so, he put some consideration on how citizens
could conscientiously resist their government’s aggressive
policies
 Despite his International fame, Rawls lived a withdrawn
life. Instead of becoming a public intellectual, he spent
most of his time as an academic and family person.
 In 1995 he suffered a stroke which prevented him from continuing

with his work. However, he has able to write three more books –
The Law of peoples, Lecture on the history of moral philosophy ,
and Justice as fairness.
 John Rawls died in 2002 at the age of 81.

JOHN RAWL’S
ETHICAL THEORY
Rawls was considered a major social political
philosopher .
In his work entitled theory of justice, be upheld the

idea that justice is fairness. This idea has became the
basis for social institutions that do not confer morally
arbitrary lifelong advantages on some persons at the
expense of others. This idea of John Rawls became one
of the bases for the contemporary moral philosophy
and an alternative to the utilitarian system.
THE
HYPHOTHETICAL
SITUATION
In order to elucidate his concept of
justice, Rawls talked about
hypothetical situation, he narrated that
man is to imagine himself that he is
placed in the original position of
equality. In such situation man is
placed under the veil of ignorance
wherein he will not be able to know
most of the socially significant facts
about himself – his race, sex religion
economic status, social standing, his
natural abilities and even his own
conception of a good life.
From the Hypothetical Situation justice principle , Rawls was able to defend his two
principles of justice
1. Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal
basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty of all. This principle
provides good idea and upholds equal liberties of all the people in a community.
2. Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both.
a. To the greatest benefit of the least advantages consistent with the just
saving principle , and
b. Attached offices and position open to all conditions of fair equality of
opportunity.
Categories of
Justice and Fairness
Categories of Justice and
Fairness
•Distributive Justice , which always known as economic justice , is the kind of
justice that is concerned with giving individual member of the society an
equal distribution of benefits and resources available.
•Procedural Justice is the kind of justice that is concerned with making and
implementing decision that will upload equality to every individual member of
the society .
•Retributive justice upholds the idea that people deserved to be treated in the
name way they treat others. It consists in the just imposition of penalties on
those who do wrong .
•Restorative Justice where in the focus would not only be on giving,
punishment to the individual who who committed in justice but more on the
restoration of the dignity of the victim.
THEORIES
OF DISTRIBUTIVE
JUSTICE
Theories of Distributive Justice
1.Justice as Equality: Egalitarianism
•Egalitarianism is the principle that upheld the idea that people should be given equal
treatment.
2. Justice-based on Contribution: The Capital Justice
•Capital justice is based on the premise that benefits should be distributive according to
the degree of contribution that each person provides for the benefit of the society as a whole.
3. Justice-based on Needs and Abilities: Socialism
•A response to the problem of capital justice regarding their insensitivity to the needs of
the people up held the idea that “ from each according to his ability , to each according to his
needs”
4. Justice as Freedom: Libertarianism
•In a democratic system government, citizens are given the right to act as they please,
although, in a political liberty, the people do not have unlimited freedom.
SITUATION
ETHICS
• Situationism, which is also known as The New Morality, is
advocated by Joseph Fletcher, an American Protestant
medical doctor (Tuibeo 1995, 35). Although it was called
The New Morality, situationism was actually rooted from
the classical tradition of Christian morality.
• It has a semblance with the Thomistic moral philosophy

and the Divine Command Theory. The difference is that
the emphasis of situationism was on the personal
decision rather than mere adherence to a pre-established
code of conduct
The
Life of
JOSEPH
FLETCHER
THE LIFE OF JOSEPH FLETCHER
• Joseph Francis Fletcher (1905-1991) was a philosopher widely recognized for his work in
moral theory and applied ethics. Best known for the method of consequentialist moral
reasoning espoused in his book Situation Ethics, Fletcher was also acknowledged as the
father of modern biomedical ethics.
• Joseph Francis Fletcher was born in East Orange, New Jersey, on April 10, 1905. His
parents separated when he was nine, after which his mother returned to her family home in
Fairmont, West Virginia, to raise her two children. His experiences working for the
Consolidation Coal Company and the Monongahela Coal Mine led to his lifelong
sympathy for the working conditions of coal miners and set the stage for a life of social
activism.
• In 1944 Fletcher accepted the Robert Treat Paine Chair in Social Ethics at
the Episcopal Theological School of Harvard University, where he taught
Christian social ethics. For several years he also taught business ethics in the
Musser Seminar at the Harvard School of Business Administration. He
continued his social activist teachings for union organizations and was twice
attacked and beaten unconscious by anti-union thugs while lecturing in the
deep South. Along with two fellow Harvard professors, Fletcher was
redbaited and subpoenaed by Senator Joseph McCarthy, who charged the
professors with being Communists or at least Communist sympathizers.
• The Lowell Lectures given by Fletcher at Harvard in 1949 were

precursors of his treatise on ethical issues in medicine, Morals and
Medicine (1954). This book gave a biological direction to his social
ethic and was the first nonCatholic treatment of medical ethics. It is
considered the pioneering work of a new discipline—biomedical
ethics— and subsequently established Fletcher as the “father of
modern biomedical ethics.”
The Moral
Philosophy
of Joseph
Fletcher
THE MORAL PHILOSOPHY OF JOSEPH FLETCHER
 Joseph Fletcher developed what is know as the situation

ethics. He explained this principle by way of enumerating
the different approaches to morality.
 According to Fletcher there are three approaches to

morality; the Legalistic, the Antinomian, and the
Situational approach.
THE LEGALISTIC APPROACH
The Legalistic approach upholds certain general moral

prescriptions, laws, norms by which to judge, determine,
and resolve moral issues and decisions. In making moral
decisions.
The Legalistic approach upholds the normative approach
in making decisions as it would usually ask the question:
“What does the laws say?" Decisions that are not based
on the prescribed law must be considered unacceptable.
THE ANTINOMIAN APPROACH
The antinomian approach, on the other hand, frees the

people from the obligations of the moral law. This
approach upholds that there should be no absolute
precepts or moral principles that are enslaving the
people. The followers of this approach call for a response
to a particular situation varying from one individual to
another. In this case, they believe that the absolute moral
principle will be considered an absolute nonsense.
THE ANTINOMIAN APPROACH
 From the point of view of Joseph Fletcher, this approach is too liberal
and unconventional. If this principle will be established, the society
may lead to anarchy and moral chaos.
 Fletcher believed that the antinomians overreacted to legalism. They

simply decided what to do without the encumbrances of any principles
and rules. In depicting this position, Fletcher held that people must
have to choose.
THE SITUATIONISM APPROACH
 Because of these reasons, Joseph Fletcher preferred the third

approach to morality, the Situationism approach.
 Fletcher believed that situationism is the way between legalist

and the antinomian’s lack of principles.
 Situationism is the ethical theory that states that the rightness of

an act depends upon a particular situation. But whatever the
situation would be, one should always act in the name of
Christian love.
THE MORAL PHILOSOPHY OF JOSEPH FLETCHER
The Legalistic approach upholds certain general moral

prescriptions, laws, norms by which to judge, determine,
and resolve moral issues and decisions. In making moral
decisions.
The Legalistic approach upholds the normative approach
in making decisions as it would usually ask the question:
“What does the laws say?" Decisions that are not based
on the prescribed law must be considered unacceptable.
THANK
YOU

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JOHN RAWL’S

 Utilitarianism had been dominating the Anglo-

 was an American political and ethical philosopher

 He was born on February 21,1921, in Baltimore.

 He was the second of five sons of William Lee, who was a

 Rawls considered the Vietnam conflict to be an unjust

 In 1995 he suffered a stroke which prevented him from continuing

 John Rawls died in 2002 at the age of 81.

In his work entitled theory of justice, be upheld the

• It has a semblance with the Thomistic moral philosophy

• The Lowell Lectures given by Fletcher at Harvard in 1949 were

 Joseph Fletcher developed what is know as the situation

 According to Fletcher there are three approaches to

The Legalistic approach upholds certain general moral

The antinomian approach, on the other hand, frees the

 Fletcher believed that the antinomians overreacted to legalism. They

 Because of these reasons, Joseph Fletcher preferred the third

 Fletcher believed that situationism is the way between legalist

 Situationism is the ethical theory that states that the rightness of

The Legalistic approach upholds certain general moral

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