JUSTICE AS EQUITY

an analysis of John Rawls' theory

Abstract

This article addresses the concept of justice as fairness in John Rawls. This is a descriptive study, based on research and bibliographic review, which uses the hypothetical-deductive method and adopts a qualitative and transdisciplinary approach between political philosophy and the philosophy of law. The concept of justice, discussed since Plato in The Republic and by Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics, is revisited in John Rawls' work A Theory of Justice. For Rawls, justice should be considered the primary virtue of political and social systems, just as truth is for systems of thought. He argues that, regardless of the elegance or efficiency of a theory, it should be reformulated or rejected if it proves to be unjust, just like laws and institutions. His theory of justice emphasizes social cooperation and proposes a conception of justice based on the “original position”, mediated by the veil of ignorance, with the aim of establishing ideal and rational criteria to order and structure society.