Concept
Original position
Overview
In philosophy, the original position is a hypothetical position from which members of society would consider which principles they would select for the basic structure of their society if they had no knowledge ahead of time regarding the position which they would end up occupying in that society. The idea of having no such knowledge, because everyone is behind a veil of ignorance, represents a thought experiment often associated with the work of the American philosopher John Rawls.
In this "original position", the "veil of ignorance" prevents everyone from knowing their ethnicity, social status, gender, and (crucially in Rawls's formulation) their or anyone else's ideas of how to lead a good life. Ideally, this would force participants acting rationally to adopt an "initial agreement" on the principles impartially.
In Rawls's theory the original position plays the same role as the "state of nature" does in the social contract tradition of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. The original position figures prominently in Rawls's 1971 book, A Theory of Justice. It has influenced a variety of thinkers from a broad spectrum of philosophical orientations.
Rawls coined the phrases original position and veil of ignorance. However, the same thought experiment had already been described earlier in social choice by William Vickrey and John Harsanyi, who independently derived proofs showing a rational observer in the original position would adopt a utilitarian framework.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
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Hence the conception of progress as a ruling idea; the conception of the individual as the source and standard of rights; and the problem of knowledge, were all born together. Given the freed individual, who feels called upon to create a new heaven and a new earth, and who feels himself gifted with the power to perform the task to which he is called:--and the demand for science, for a method of discovering and…
John Dewey, The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy, and other essays in contemporary thought
States what Original position is.
But to determine what these propositions are, is the _opus magnum_ of the more recondite mental philosophy. Two principal divisions of opinion on the subject have divided the schools of philosophy from its first dawn. The one recognizes no ultimate premises but the facts of our subjective consciousness; our sensations, emotions, intellectual states of mind, and volitions. These, and whatever by strict rules of…
John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive
States what Original position is; the author is tied to Original position in the knowledge graph.
If the universe had a beginning, its beginning, by the very conditions of the case, was supernatural; the laws of nature cannot account for their own origin. The Positive philosopher is free to form his opinion on the subject, according to the weight he attaches to the analogies which are called marks of design, and to the general traditions of the human race. The value of these evidences is indeed a question for…
John Stuart Mill, Auguste Comte and Positivism
States what Original position is; the author is tied to Original position in the knowledge graph.
Philosophers who discussed Original position
Related ideas
- Ethnicity
- Game theory
- John Rawls
- Philosophy
- Immanuel Kant
- John Stuart Mill
- John Locke
- Justice
- Impartiality
- Social choice theory
- Adam Smith
- Thomas Nagel
- A Theory of Justice
- Rational choice model
- Robert Nozick
- Thomas Hobbes
- Utilitarianism
- Iain King
- Gender
- Social contract
- Decision theory
- Thought experiment
- Michael Sandel
- Rationality
Place in the tradition
Part of American philosophy.