the.com/veil of ignorance
Design society without knowing which seat you'll get assigned.
means A thought experiment for judging fairness: decide the rules for society before you know which role, wealth, or luck you'll personally end up with.
from Coined by philosopher John Rawls in his 1971 book 'A Theory of Justice.' He asked you to imagine choosing society's rules from an 'original position,' stripped behind a hypothetical veil that hides your future race, class, talents, and fortune — the idea being that only then would you pick rules that are truly fair, since they might land on you in any role.
- coined by
- John Rawls, 1971, Theory of Justice
- the trick
- you don't know your race, wealth, or talents
- the logic
- forces fairness since you might end up poorest
- the catch
- nobody actually designs society this way