A Third Way

A first edition
 £581.61 Abe books

I listened to the recent discussion about the work of John Rawls with 'Melvin Bragg and the Gang'.

 John Rawls was an inspirational modern academic, but he is also presented challenges to all people.

Rawls initially intended to be a priest in America, but the wickedness and evil he witnessed on all sides during the second world war sickened him, and he could not believe in a 'loving' or interested God.  He was also deeply affected by the death of two of his brothers who contracted a disease he initially brought into the family.

He went on to work as an academic at Yale and Harvard writing his most famous book, 'A Theory of Justice'. He did not give many talks about his work, saying that he had 'a bat-like horror of the limelight'.

In this book Rawls argues against 'Utilitarianism', which posits that a government's duty is to maximise happiness and security for the majority of people in a community.  This is the rational a Head Teacher uses when the special needs budget is spent to benefit the broad sweep of the pupils, rather than the individual with complex specific needs.

Rawls also rejects the 'Intuitive' position which states that if everyone advocates for their own position, all needs will balance each other out.

Here we have the full political spectrum.  But we see that the spectrum is 'bent', or curvy, rather that 'straight'. 

The Socialist position says 'What is best for society?' (With a liberal dose of self interest.) The Conservative position says 'What is best for the individual? (With an eye to the need for society to function in order to achieve this.) It's like comparing apples with pears.  The Socialist position is 'International'; the Conservative position sets it's boundaries closer to home.  The Fascist position say 'to hell with everyone else'.

The John Rawls' alternative is the principle that if we look after the most vulnerable in society, then we will have cared for everyone by default.  

This is the idea that if the school in the most deprived area is able to ensure students graduate to secure and honourable positions, all schools will do the same.  

Rawls was a humble man, who tried hard to find others to attribute his original ideas.  'In Our Time' concluded that some of this ideas can only be attributed to Rawls. So good on him.