you should design a society as if you didn’t know which caste you’d be in, not that you should design it so you don’t care which caste you’d be in.
As I understand it, the goal of my not-knowing is to eliminate the temptation to take my personal status in that society into consideration when judging the society… that is, “ignorant of” is being used as a way of approximating “indifferent to”, not as a primary goal in and of itself.
But, OK, maybe I just don’t understand Rawls.
In any case, I infer that none of the rest of my explanation of why I think of equality in terms of equal-utility rather than equal-particulars is at all worth responding to, in which case I’m content to drop the subject here.
As I understand it, the goal of my not-knowing is to eliminate the temptation to take my personal status in that society into consideration when judging the society… that is, “ignorant of” is being used as a way of approximating “indifferent to”, not as a primary goal in and of itself.
But, OK, maybe I just don’t understand Rawls.
Nope, that’s my understanding too. You want to maximize utility, not just for your own caste, but for society.
In any case, I infer that none of the rest of my explanation of why I think of equality in terms of equal-utility rather than equal-particulars is at all worth responding to, in which case I’m content to drop the subject here.
Sorry about not responding to your other arguments, I kind of skimmed your comment and thought that was your argument.
As I understand it, the goal of my not-knowing is to eliminate the temptation to take my personal status in that society into consideration when judging the society… that is, “ignorant of” is being used as a way of approximating “indifferent to”, not as a primary goal in and of itself.
But, OK, maybe I just don’t understand Rawls.
In any case, I infer that none of the rest of my explanation of why I think of equality in terms of equal-utility rather than equal-particulars is at all worth responding to, in which case I’m content to drop the subject here.
Nope, that’s my understanding too. You want to maximize utility, not just for your own caste, but for society.
Sorry about not responding to your other arguments, I kind of skimmed your comment and thought that was your argument.