Social Inequality: A Philosophic Analysis

Paper Summary:

This paper asks the question: Can social inequalities be justified if they are not in the interest of those who are worst off or what is good or right for all and not just some? The author points out that in a society, which has become overly utilitarian, the answer is it depends. The paper concludes that, using modern statistics, those who are worse off are just that, worse off and those who are better off would say that those who are worse off are really better off; however, when playing with the words like an ancient philosopher, the answers can fluctuate and therefore are not cut and dry.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Worse Off and Inequality
Jail
Assumption 1
Second Assumption
Third Assumption
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"John Rawls pointed out in his work entitled Two Concepts of Rules that if a son or daughter of any parent were to inquire why a particular person was put in jail, the parent could respond by saying that so and so robbed a convenience store and that was why he went to jail. But Rawls draws the distinction that if the child was to ask a slightly different question about why society as a whole puts people in jail, the parent may answer with the line of reasoning that jails 'protect those who are good from those who are bad.' "To stop people from doing things that would make it uneasy for all of us; for otherwise we wouldn't be able to go to bed at night and sleep in peace.""

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