"The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance"

John Rawls’ concept of the "veil of ignorance" is central to his theory of justice as fairness. He invites us to imagine a scenario where individuals are tasked with choosing the foundational principles that will shape their society’s structure. The distinctive feature is that these individuals are placed behind a hypothetical veil of ignorance, meaning they lack knowledge of their own social status, class, gender, abilities, or even their conception of what constitutes a good life. They do not know if they will be rich or poor, privileged or marginalized, every personal contingency is unknown.

By stripping away all that defines a person’s particular circumstances, Rawls ensures that the choice of justice principles is made from a position of impartiality and equality. Decisions are guided purely by rational self-interest under uncertainty, where each person recognizes they could inhabit the most disadvantaged position in the society they create. This forces each chooser to take seriously the condition of the least-advantaged, since anyone might turn out to be among them.

From this device, Rawls argues, rational individuals would select principles that protect fundamental rights and guarantee at least a fair minimum of basic liberties and equal opportunities for all. They would agree to the "difference principle", where social and economic inequalities are permitted only if they benefit the least well-off. Such a framework seeks to prevent partiality, self-dealing, and biases of inherited privilege or luck, guiding society towards arrangements that are defensible to everyone regardless of their actual status.

The veil of ignorance mechanism challenges individuals to empathize universally, making the moral point that justice should not serve the interests of any particular group above others. In Rawls’ framework, justice emerges not from bargaining among the powerful, but by considering what rational, free, and equal persons would agree is fair when none knows how they will fare in the distribution of society’s fortunes.