An Extension of Rawls’ Theory of Justice to Environmental Ethics
Author(s)
Singer, Brent A.
Abstract
By combining and augmenting recent arguments that have appeared in the literature, I show how a modified Rawlsian theory of justice generates a strong environmental and animal rights ethic. These modifications include significant changes in the conditions of the contract situation vis-a-vis “a theory of justice”, but I argue that these modifications are in fact more consistent with Rawls’s basic assumptions about the functions of a veil of ignorance and a thin theory of the good.
