2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

Ayn Rand’s Objectivism and John Rawls’ Theory of Justice

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Rawls’ second principle consists of two subsections. The first subsection (The

Difference Principle), is loosely egalitarian in nature. Rawls argues that any difference

in primary goods can only be justified if it is beneficial to those who are worse off under

the current equal distribution. These primary goods can be separated into social and

natural goods. According to Rawls, the social primary goods are “rights and liberties,

power and opportunities, income and wealth … [and] self-respect.” 15 Rawls then

differentiates natural goods as, “health and vigor, intelligence and imagination.” 16

Rawls then importantly defines injustice as, “simply inequalities that are not to the

benefit of all. 17 This interpretation of inequalities provides justification for any

modification to ‘The Greatest Equal Liberty Principle’. Rawls also deals with the

unpredictable essence of nature. The unpredictable nature occurs because the

possession of natural goods is influenced in some form by the basic structure, despite

not being under its direct control. 18

The latter subsection of the second principle (The Equal Opportunity Principle)

grapples further with the inherent issue of primary goods. The principle states that any

citizen has the right to hold office, not only on the basis of merit. The Equal Opportunity

Principle stipulates that every individual must also have the right to the same

opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills to hold that office. Hence, Rawls presents

15 Ibid. 16 Ibid. 17 Ibid. 18 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019. John Rawls. [Online]

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