The Search for a Fair Society: Rawls’ Equality Principle Is Exactly the System Needed to Offset the High Risk Attached to Random Searches

September 30. Let’s start this week in style. Grab a coffee and let’s talk about the realistic reality of a fair society.

After a short recap of all I had already said about Rawls. His Original Position, and basic liberties on Saturday, today we dive into his second overarching principle. First of, let’s listen to it once more in Rawls’ own words:

“Social and economic inequalities are to satisfy two conditions: First they are to be attached to positions and offices open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity; and second, they are to be to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged members of society, consistent with the just savings principle.”

As you can see, Rawls second overarching principle has two parts:

·       Fair equality of opportunity: Social positions – and this includes not just jobs but also things like places at universities, public offices just as being a judge etc. – should be open to all on the basis of their skills and abilities. But to start with and continuing through life everyone should have an equal chance to develop their talents.

·       Difference Principle: Inequalities in society are justified only if they benefit everyone. Specifically, we should organize our economy so as to maximize the life chances of the least advantaged.

The two parts cover both bases: the equal access to positions and the justified rewards attached to the positions. Both approaches are equally important to create a fair society. But before we go any deeper into the discussion of the two points I want to pick up on something I said in the last post. That this is exactly the system needed to offset the risk attached to random searches for all parties of the social contract.

It goes all back to the in philosophy so far totally underdiscussed fact that any human self-generates their model of the world – their reality – in their mind. Since its mostly a creative process based on just a few actual sensations and the result has little to do with the actually existing physical universe these models are vastly different. They allow the individual to survive but prevent any planned cooperation because that requires a common basis from which it is possible to formulate shared goals.

Now, humans are made up of material things that came together in the shape of a human in pursuit of two goals. All material things in the universe seek both their lowest energy state and to be in equilibrium with their surroundings. These goals require exploration of and interaction with the surroundings. The greatest payoff when it comes to exploration and subsequent interaction offer random searches. But for the individual they also harbor the greatest risk because while they will always end with a ton of new information and energy exchange, the new information might not solve the most pressing problems of survival. But the high risk can be offset by cooperation.

So, when humans cooperate it’s exactly for this reason: offset the risk of that random searches harbor so they can engage in them. And it’s necessary to stress this again: the driving force behind this desire are the material things that make up the body. And thus, it’s the body’s desire that needs to be satisfied.

How? Since the mind is simply a tool whose job it is to select the best energy to mingle with and ensure that we get in a position to do so, it’s not enough that the mind understands that one’s work enables another body to explore. Nor is the energy/ information we seek necessarily something our mind understands. It’s every single body that needs to be fed constantly with new energy and information and can’t be reduced to solely exploiting existing knowledge or the body gets sick and the mind rebels.

And that takes us to the two-part overarching principle of equality of Rawls and why it was like a breath of fresh air when I read it. The first part calls for life-long equal chances to develop one’s talents. Education and studying whether it comes in the shape that enables us to do our own research in scientific fields or in the shape of learning skills or getting to know new people and places or yet another shape, done for the betterment of oneself and not to satisfy the need of an employer, is exploration. That’s exactly what every person who comes to the table to negotiate a common dataset that all will use in their individual world generation processes in order to be able to cooperate wants out of the resulting social contract.

In order to offset the risk of random searches by all the successes must be shared in such a way that everyone can engage in explorations without fear of ‘failing’ – the results not immediately satisfying the pressing needs of survival. Only engaging in these searches results in the end in the conduction of the overly successful ones. Since the highest payoff can happen everywhere at every time to everyone, the only truly failing explorations are those not conducted at all. The number of those in our society today is uncountable and that’s a loss for all.

On the other hand, you need to give incentives so that certain jobs that need to be done are done. And that balance is handled by the Difference Principle. In the resulting society it’s not the case that everyone has the same. There are differences. But the differences need to be justified by the payoff they deliver to the group as a whole and in particular the least advantaged of all. Hence, while everyone’s wealth grows – and not just from a material perspective – no one’s material wealth can grow into the immeasurable. And the reason is that material wealth is an invention of our mind that has no impact on the body. So, the whole project of cooperation has never aimed at that. Remember, it’s driven by the material things that make up our body.

Any thoughts? Tell me. Tell all. Since our models of the world change with every new information we gather and the models are only accessible to others when we communicate them, we are part of never ending negotiations that require constant conversation and debate.

To watch this post as a video, go here.

#science #history #reality #society #philosophy #WorldGeneration #fairness #information #Rawls #OriginalPosition #BasicLiberties #mind #self #brain #thinking #exploring