نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسنده
ندارد
چکیده
کلیدواژهها
عنوان مقاله [English]
The social contract tradition has a particular significance in the history of
political philosophy. The classic theoreticians of social contract, such as
Lock, Rousseau, and Kant, have considered the political authority as
inevitable in order to prevail over life difficulties in disordered (social)
situation.
John Rawls takes a new approach to social contract in his theory of
justice. He assumes that contracting parties would choose the principles of
justice which intend to determine the moral principles. Such principles, in
turn, constitute the social institutions of society. In Rawls’ view,
contracting parties are assumed to be in a hypothetical situation called
original position. These persons as free, equal, reasonable and rational
citizens, are in veil of ignorance; that is, they are not aware of any
characters as gender, social status, religious orientation, and even their
conception of the good. In this situation, Rawls suggests a technique,
called “reflective equilibrium”, which orchestrates our principles of
justice and considered judgments. In original position, contracting parties
choose the two principles of justice, i.e. the principles of liberty and
equality. The concept of original position is an interpretation of Kant’s
view on the principle of freewill and categorical imperative. Describing
this situation enables one to reveal his essential nature as a free and
autonomous human being.
Rawls, thus, dose not use social contract to legitimate political authority;
but, using original position, he presents a concept of human nature which
the liberals, always, talk about it: a liberated human who is freed of any
social, political and traditional stress.
کلیدواژهها [English]
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