Question

At a particular moment in time, a particular society’s wealth is distributed very unevenly, with some individuals controlling ten times the amount of wealth as the least wealthy individuals. How would Nozick and Rawls assess the society in terms of justice?

Answer 1

correct answer on the Justice Course is d)

Nozick would say that it is impossible to tell whether the society is just without knowing whether the economic goods were acquired in accordance with the priniciples of justice in acquisition (initial holdings) and justice in transfer (free market). Rawls would say that whether the society is just depends upon whether the inequalities are working to the advantage of the least advantage of the least advantaged as constrained by principles guranteeing fair equal opportunity and equal liberties.

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

Nozick would argue that this is an unfair society, while Rawls would say that in order to assess whether that society is fair or unfair, we would have to know how the least favored members live in it.

Step-by-step explanation:

As we know, the wealth of a society is divided unevenly in a country, causing great social inequality and extreme income imbalance, where some people are highly favored and others are very disadvantaged and exploited.

Within this context, Nozic and Rawls differed in concluding whether this is a just or unjust society. This is because for Nozic, if society distributes its wealth unevenly, it causes an inequality of opportunity for the citizens who compose it. Thus, this is an unfair society, because the most favored members will have more access to opportunities, while the most disadvantaged members will not have the same access.

For Rawls, however, judging society as fair or unfair does not depend on how its wealth is distributed, but on how the most disadvantaged members manage to live. If they manage to live decently, even with few resources, society is fair, if not, society is unfair.