John Rawls' veil of ignorance is what first entered my mind when listening to MLK's speech, I Have a Dream....this method of determining the morality of a certain issue (e.i. not having equality of all men, not having civil rights for all humans) is based upon the principle of be unbiased - think if I put you behind a curtain and then brought into the room many people from all walks of life, from many different nations...and I asked you to judge them, make assumptions of what type of person they are, or if they are rich/poor, beautiful/ugly....you would not be able to because that curtain stands between you from making such statements or judgments. It is the "curtain" that should always be their. Also imagine if societal roles were completely re-designed and redistributed among its population, 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. Put your veil over your head...then think when I pull it off, would you be the same person, or would you be MLK....think deep and hard about it. Would you want have lived in his shoes; would you have been such a strong leader like MLK.....................
Remember - under your veil .... you don't get to keep any aspects of who you are currently, no traits that make you...you.
I quote, ..."no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status; nor does he know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence and strength, and the like" (Rawls, A Theory of Justice). Since you may occupy any position in the society once the veil is lifted, this theory encourages thinking about society from the perspective of all members.
Do not let the title of his theory, veil of ignorance fool you. A veil is more often than not transparent... almost see through but with a blurring vision....but don't let his words confuse you...it is the metaphor of remembering this veil over your eyes and the way you think...and to maintain that way of thinking, even when that veil is removed. The word, "ignorance" is used to represent a childlike way of thinking, believing, and living...their innocence is what we think of when we think of a child ... their ability to not judge, to not hate, not to see difference. I feel Rawls used the word "ignorance" to represent a child's trait of not knowing such evil ....... WE are not born that way.... a babe can only be taught to hate, to judge, to see differences as faults rather than having the ability to accept those differences as a way to love, to grow, to learn....having ones innocence taken away from them is a crime.
I quote, ..."no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status; nor does he know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence and strength, and the like" (Rawls, A Theory of Justice). Since you may occupy any position in the society once the veil is lifted, this theory encourages thinking about society from the perspective of all members.
Do not let the title of his theory, veil of ignorance fool you. A veil is more often than not transparent... almost see through but with a blurring vision....but don't let his words confuse you...it is the metaphor of remembering this veil over your eyes and the way you think...and to maintain that way of thinking, even when that veil is removed. The word, "ignorance" is used to represent a childlike way of thinking, believing, and living...their innocence is what we think of when we think of a child ... their ability to not judge, to not hate, not to see difference. I feel Rawls used the word "ignorance" to represent a child's trait of not knowing such evil ....... WE are not born that way.... a babe can only be taught to hate, to judge, to see differences as faults rather than having the ability to accept those differences as a way to love, to grow, to learn....having ones innocence taken away from them is a crime.
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