martes, 9 de septiembre de 2008

Rawls on Civil Disobedience

What is the nature of an act of civil disobedience in a constitutional democracy? “My thought is that in a reasonably just (though not perfectly just) democratic regime, civil disobedience, when it is justified, is normally to be understood as a political action which addresses the sense of justice of the majority in order to urge reconsideration of the measures protested and to warn that in the firm opinion of the dissenters the conditions of social cooperation are not being honored.” (292) “Civil Disobedience is a public, nonviolent, conscientious yet political act contrary to law usually done with the aim of bringing about a change in the law or policies of the government. By acting in this way one addresses the sense of justice of the majority of the community and declares that in one’s considered opinion and the principles of social cooperation among free and equal men are not being respected.” (TJ: §55-59) “It should also be noted that civil disobedience is a political act not only in the sense that it is addressed to the majority that holds political power, but also because it is an act guided and justified by political principles, that is, by the principles of justice which regulate the constitution and social institutions generally". (TJ: §55-59) The two Rawlsian chief virtues of social institutions are justice and efficiency. • What is justice?• What constitutes a just set of institutions? • A just state? According to Rawls, the principles of justice are those that rational individuals would agree upon if the situation of the original position were to arise. “Social arrangements are just or unjust according to whether they accord with the principles for assigning and securing fundamental rights and liberties which would be chosen in the original position.” (293) • What is the original position?• What sorts of knowledge does the “veil of ignorance” strip from individuals in the original position? “the principles [of justice] are those a person would choose for the design of a society in which his enemy is to assign him his place.” (TJ, 152) The principles of justice as articulated in “The Justification of Civil Disobedience”: Each person is to have an equal right to the most extenseive libery compatible with a like liberty for all. Social and Economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both to everyone’s advantage and attached to positions and offices open to all. (294) The principles of justice as articulated in Rawls’ later work A Theory of Justice: EQ: Equality must exist in the assignment of basic rights and duties. MN: Inequalities may exist only when they will result in the most favorable outcome for the least advantaged member of society. The closest thing to a just state, Rawls claims, is established through a series of agreements. Series of Agreements (295): Principles of justice in the original position Constitutional convention: constitution is constructed in accordance with the principles of justice emanating from rational individuals in the original position A legislative body guided by the principles of justice enacts laws subject to the constraints and procedures of the just constitution. Such a state, Rawls claims, is infected by imperfect procedural justice: “that is, there is no feasible political procedure which guarantees that the enacted legislation is just even though we have a standard for just legislation.” (295) “Some form of the majority principle is necessary but the majority can be mistaken.”--Justifie d by concerns of efficiency and democratic fairness. RCD: An act, A, of civil disobedience is morally justified iff: A is performed as a last resort; that is, A must be performed after “normal political appeals to the majority have already been made in good faith and have been rejected, and that the standard means of redress have been tried;” (299) II. A is a political act addressed to the sense of justice of the majority, bringing to the majority’s attention substantial and clear violations of justice (299); III. The agent of A affirms that “everyone else similarly subjected to the same degree of injustice has the right to protest in a similar way;” and IV. A is justified from a consequentialist perspective. Do some research on a specific act of civil disobedience. Explain whether or not the researched act is morally justified according to RCD.

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