Rights are neither natural, nor mere decrees, nor simple calculations of utility: they are , constructed through deliberation among free and equal persons, and serving as standards of political legitimacy.
Foundations and implications
↑ What grounds it↓ What it implies
↑ What grounds it
The origin of the social bond
If the legitimate order arises from an agreement among free and equal persons, then rights themselves appear as the terms of a fair cooperation to be constructed, not as givens. Contractualism grounds political constructivism: Rawls derives the principles of justice from a rational choice made behind a "veil of ignorance".
↓ What it implies
Distributive justice
If rights are the terms of a fair cooperation chosen among equals, a just society must correct the inequalities no one has deserved, those of birth and talent. Political constructivism grounds egalitarianism: Rawls admits inequalities only if they also benefit the least advantaged.