Plato and John Rawls on Social Justice

Abstract

Issues related to justice are visible in our daily lives and also discussed in almost all spheres of human endeavor. From antiquity, individuals have been concerned with the problem of justice; however it became a subject of rational discourse from the time of the Sophists and Socrates. From that time, different philosophers have tried to define what it entails and also gave vivid explanation as to how it could be solved. Plato sees justice as loyalty to the order within the soul, example seen within a well structured society. Thus, by understanding the character of the soul and justice in this manner, one will appreciate justice within the society. Whereas, John Rawls visualize justice as fairness and describe fairness to be the dictates that reasonable and free kinsmen can accent to on a neutral position with a sight of advancing their wellbeing. The paper is an endeavor to evaluate the theory of justice from Plato to Rawls.