- Rawlsian
- "Rawlsian" refers to the ideas of philosopher John Rawls, who developed an influential theory of what makes a society fair and just. His key idea is that a fair society should be organized as if people didn't know what position they'd occupy in it—meaning the rules should benefit everyone, especially the least advantaged, since anyone could end up in that situation. Rawls fundamentally changed how people think about justice and equality in modern democracies.
- Scanlon
- # Scanlon
Tim Scanlon is an influential American philosopher known for developing a theory of ethics based on the idea that actions are right if they could be justified to others through principles everyone could reasonably accept. Rather than focusing on happiness or duty, his approach emphasizes what we can defend to each other as fair-minded people, making morality fundamentally about mutual respect and agreement. He's considered one of the most important moral philosophers of our time because his ideas have reshaped how philosophers think about fairness, responsibility, and what we owe to one another.
- difference-principle egalitarianism(political philosophy and justice)
- Rawls's idea that inequality is only fair if it actually helps the poorest and most disadvantaged people in society.
- reasonable rejectability test(moral philosophy)
- A method for figuring out if a moral rule is fair by asking: would anyone have a good reason to refuse to accept this rule if we all had to live by it?
- symmetrically(describing how the wrongness applies equally in any situation)
- In a balanced, equal way that applies the same to both sides, regardless of which person started the conflict.
- uncompensated natural disadvantage(social justice and fairness)
- When someone is born with fewer advantages than others (like less talent or wealth) and society doesn't give them extra help to make things more fair.
- worst-off(as a group of people whose interests matter in judging fairness)
- The people in society who have the least money, power, or resources—those in the most difficult situation.