The Difference Principle
Attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity (Fair Equality of Opportunity Principle)” (Kilcullen, J 1996) The equal basic liberties principle has priority over the second principle which itself has two separate parts being the Difference Principle which is subservient to the fair equality of opportunity principle (Kymlicka, W 1990). The Difference Principle according to Swift has “attracted the most attention in debates about distributive justice”. To have the Difference Principle put into practice it requires that “institutions be arranged so that inequalities of wealth and income work to the advantage of those who will be worst off” (Wenar, L 2008). Rawls has said according to Kymlicka that some inequalities are justified as long as they are beneficial to all members of society. Kilcullen puts it best when he says “there maybe just inequalities, justified as incentive. ” An example of a just inequality as an incentive, is that, a brain surgeon should get paid more then a bartender due to the importance and complicated nature of the brain surgeon’s job. Swift puts it well when he says “imagine all those brain surgeons and dynamic entrepreneurs who would rather be poets. Without the extra money that will induce them to forgo the pleasures of poetry, the rest of us will be deprived of their surgical or entrepreneurial skills”. Rawls does not imagine a communist society where all things are divided up equally, he appreciates that inequalities are a productive part of society instead what he is aiming for is to remove the racial, cultural and religious inequalities that are more prevalent in society. Rawls argues through the Difference Principle that all inequalities that are within our society based on the social structure and for which they are not responsible are on the face of it unfair (Nagel, T 2003).