"The even larger difference between rich and poor makes the latter even worse off, and this violates the principle of mutual advantage."

John Rawls Philosophy See all quotes by John Rawls →

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“Justice does not require that men must stand idly by while others destroy the basis of their existence.”

“The hazards of the generalized prisoner's dilemma are removed by the match between the right and the good.”

“We must not be enticed by mathematically attractive assumptions into pretending that the contingencies of men's social positions and the asymmetries of their situations somehow even out in the end. Rather we must choose our conception of justice fully recognizing that this is not and cannot be the case.”

“Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Entry on Original Position by Fred D'Agostino”

“The extreme nature of dominant-end views is often concealed by the vagueness and ambiguity of the end proposed.”

“That persons have opposing interests and seek to advance their own conception of the good is not at all the same thing as their being moved by envy and jealousy.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Everything makes sense a bit at a time. But when you try to think of it all at once, it comes out wrong."

— Terry Pratchett

Literature1948–2015

#time

"....it is not wise to keep the fire going under a slander unless you can get some large advantage out of keeping it alive. Few slanders can stand the wear of silence."

— Mark Twain

Literature1835–1910

#life

"Life without prejudice, were it ever to be tried, would soon reveal itself to be a life without principle. For prejudices, as we have seen earlier, are often built-in principles. They are the extract …"

— Richard Weaver

Politics1575–1642

#life

"Why may not a goose say thus: "All the parts of the universe I have an interest in: the earth serves me to walk upon, the sun to light me; the stars have their influence upon me; I have such an advant…"

— Michel de Montaigne

Philosophy1533–1592

#nature