John Rawls’s curtain of ignorance as an attempt to renew the discussion of justice in modern society

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the methodological construct “curtain of ignorance” in the political philosophy of John Rawls. The purpose of the work is to substantiate the thesis that this concept has become not just a theoretical abstraction, but an effective attempt to revive the normative discussion about justice in the conditions of the dominance of positivism and utilitarianism in the middle of the 20th century. The article examines the heuristic potential of the “curtain of ignorance,” its critique by communitarians and libertarians, and its applicability to contemporary ethical challenges, including the development of artificial intelligence and global inequality. The author comes to the conclusion that Rawls’s thought experiment remains today a key tool of socio-political philosophy for reconciling the principles of equality and freedom, a methodological framework that allows philosophers and social theorists not only to resume discussions about freedom, choice and justice, but also to transform the existing normative framework in response to the challenges of global processes. Also significant as a result of the “return” to Rawls’s “curtain of ignorance” is the application of the Rawlsian formula to the issues of forming the ethics of artificial intelligence, which is being actively developed today. Rawls’s concept is incorporated in various variations into different AI systems in order to form a matrix of impartial machine ethics, as well as to distribute responsibility and risks, based on the principles of “unknown statuses,” which allows AI to make decisions close to the logic of “social justice” of modern society.