ABSTRACT
In his book A Theory of Justice Rawls (1971) develops two principles of justice designed to define the fundamental terms of association among individuals in a society. According to the author, these principles are the object of a collective agreement or social contract in an initial situation of equality, the so-called “original position,” a purely hypothetical situation where the individuals know the general facts about human society but do not have any particular information on their own personal circumstances. The first principle focuses on the basic liberties of citizenship and requires that these liberties be equal for all individuals in society, the second principle applies to the distribution of income and wealth and to the design of organizations.
