The Difference Principle In Rawls’ Theory

Income and wealth are important objects of distributive justice in Rawls’ theory. And the principle which rules the distributive process is called difference principle. The difference principle reflects people’s understanding in the field of economic and social justice. As in many cases the development of social civilization is dependent on this kind of understanding, it is an incumbent responsibility to understand justice in a more abstract way and provide a ethical prerequisite for legal system. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the meaning of the difference principle and compare it with other principles and thoughts. Therefore, we could provide a priori foundation for basic social systems. The article makes analysis and comments from two aspects: internal and external. From internal perspective, the difference principle will be defended by Rawls’ own argument; from external perspective, I will introduce some other scholars’ critics to express the disadvantages of the principle. However, the two aspects are compatible and overlapped in some sense. Meanwhile, I will comment on the principle according to our practical situation from my own point.This paper argues that difference principle, based on distributive justice of natural talent, was chosen by people who were in original position according to the method of reflective equilibrium. The difference principle also consider that it is sovereign state’s responsibility to build a basic social system which satisfies the efficiency and justice. The system makes a social minimum to realize distributive justice of income and wealth.