Justice as Fairness is the phrase used by the philosopher John Rawls to refer to his distinctive theory of justice. Justice as Fairness consists of two principles: that all have the greatest degree of liberty compatible with like liberty for all, and that social and economic inequalities be attached to positions open to all under fair equality of opportunity and to the greatest benefit of the least well-off members of society. The first of these two principles is known as the liberty principle, while the second half of the second, reflecting the idea that inequality is only justified if to the advantage of those who are less well-off, is known as the difference principle. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... John Rawls (February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American philosopher, a professor of political philosophy at Harvard University and author of A Theory of Justice (1971), Political Liberalism, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, and The Law of Peoples. ... J.L. Urban, statue of Lady Justice at court building in Olomouc, Czech Republic (1896-1901) Justice is the ideal, morally correct state of things and persons. ...

Rawls argues that the two principles would be chosen by representative parties in the original position — a thought experiment in which the parties are to choose among principles of justice to order the basic structure of society from behind a veil of ignorance — depriving the representatives of information about the particular characteristics (such as wealth and natural abilities) of the parties that they represent. Justice as Fairness is developed by Rawls in his now classic book, A Theory of Justice. The original position is a hypothetical situation created by American philosopher John Rawls as a thought experiment to replace the imagery of a savage state of nature of prior political philosophers like Thomas Hobbes. ... In philosophy, physics, and other fields, a thought experiment (from the German Gedankenexperiment) is an attempt to solve a problem using the power of human imagination. ... The veil of ignorance is a concept introduced by John Rawls in A Theory of Justice. ... A Theory of Justice is a book of political and moral philosophy by John Rawls. ...