Lesson · 4 min Gentle
The Veil of Ignorance
In one line Choose rules as if you did not know your place, and they are more likely to be fair.
Rawls asks how to choose fair rules. Imagine picking the rules of a society without knowing who you will be in it: rich or poor, healthy or ill, in the majority or a minority. This is the veil of ignorance. It removes the pull of self-interest, because any rule favoring one group might be the one you land in.
Behind the veil, most people would want protection for basic liberties and would accept inequalities only if they help the least advantaged. The test is useful beyond the theory: before you back a rule, ask whether you would accept it without knowing your place.
The veil is a thought experiment, not a real event. Critics say people might still choose differently, or that it leaves out those outside the society. Its value is the question it forces: would this rule look fair if you might be anyone it affects?
Go deeper
Rawls added that people behind the veil would not gamble on being lucky. Because they do not know their place, they would choose rules that make the worst-off position as good as it can be, which he called the difference principle.
Critics, including utilitarians, say that people might reasonably accept a risk for a chance at greater benefits, so the veil need not lead to his conclusions.
The lunch table
A school cafeteria is deciding seating rules. The popular students want the best tables near the windows by right. Newer students and those who eat alone say they would be left with the worst seats.
The staff ask each side to imagine a lottery: your seat is assigned after you choose the rule. Suddenly everyone prefers rotating tables and a few seats reserved for students who are alone. The rule now looks fair to anyone who might sit anywhere.
Try this today Before you back a rule, ask whether you would accept it if you did not know where you would land.
Cite or share this lesson
A plain reference you can paste into notes or an essay:
Quest2Reason. “The Veil of Ignorance.” https://quest2reason.com/learn/lesson/veil-of-ignorance. Accessed 13 November 2026.
Sources
- John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (1971), the original position — The veil of ignorance and the two principles of justice. Paraphrased; this lesson does not quote the book.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “John Rawls” — A modern account of the original position and its uses and critics.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Contractarianism” — The wider tradition of justifying rules by agreement.