Final answer:
John Rawls proposes two principles behind the veil of ignorance: equal basic liberties for all and social and economic inequalities arranged to benefit the least advantaged and ensure fair equality of opportunity.
Step-by-step explanation:
John Rawls's Principles of Justice
The question pertains to the two general principles of justice that rational persons would choose behind the veil of ignorance, a concept introduced by philosopher John Rawls. Rawls's imaginative scenario involves individuals designing society's principles without knowledge of their own place in it. This is meant to ensure impartiality and fairness in the development of just principles.
Rawls proposes these two principles of justice:
Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all.
Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both:
This principle is further divided into two parts, which must be satisfied in order:
Inequalities should be arranged to benefit the least advantaged, commonly referred to as the difference principle.
Inequalities should be attached to positions and offices open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity.
These principles are chosen because they would eliminate debates over disparities caused by racial, economic, or social differences, as rational designers of society would not want to disadvantage themselves.