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Society & Culture:Philosophy
Social and Political Philosophy: John Rawls 1 (the brute luck reasoning (AKA ”argument”))
Hi Social and Political Philosophers!
Today we take a look at John Rawls on "Meritocracy" (reward for merit) or The Individualist Work Ethic (IWE).
Meritocracy/IWE is the dominant view in the world today: You get what you earn.
The view takes this form:
Notice this means rewards will and ought to be different, because (1), (2) and (3) differ vastly between individuals.
Rawls rejects this view, not because he rejects difference in rewards—he thinks that idea is hopeless and extremely destructive--but because he views (1), (2) and (3) as “brute luck”. You didn’t choose your parents or how you were raised or when in human history. Brute luck means you have no control over these features of your life. If it is brute luck, it is not the result of free, informed choice. So it is not deserved. What is not deserved is not fair. And here, we are talking about differences in rewards. What Rawls calls the 3 primary social goods. Money, prestige and power.
So our adventure begins!
Cheers~
Lee
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