The Difference Principle and Justice as Fairness

From the reasoning of the original position, Rawls derived two principles of justice, ordered lexically so that the first takes strict priority over the second. The first, the liberty principle, requires that each person have an equal right to the most extensive scheme of basic liberties — liberty of conscience, freedom of speech and assembly, the right to vote and hold office, and the rule of law — compatible with a similar scheme for all. The second principle governs social and economic inequalities, and itself has two parts: such inequalities must be attached to positions open to all under conditions of "fair equality of opportunity," and, further, they must work to the greatest expected benefit of the least advantaged members of society — the clause Rawls named the "difference principle."