Ethics during Capitalism and Socialism - Essay Example

Running head: Ethics Ethics: Capitalism and Socialism Introduction The word ‘ethics’ is slowly losing its meaning because of the intrusion of the changing life philosophies and principles. Advancements in living standards brought many changes in our social and family life and ethics and its principles are perceived as a burden by many people for enjoying their life in this world. Commercialization is controlling most of the segments of our social and family life and ethics has not much role in a commercial world. Capitalism and socialism are two major political institutions which control most of the countries in the world. Capitalists and socialists have their own interpretations about ethics. These interpretations are almost same considering the ultimate goal of justice to all; but they differ in the selection of route to reach this goal. The famous political philosopher, John Rawls argued that the institutions of society must be regulated by two principles of justice; the liberty principle and the difference principle. This paper briefly analyses the two models, capitalism and socialism with respect to Rawls’ two ‘principles of justice’. Rawls’ two ‘principles of justice’ Rawls’s principle of liberty argues that each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all. Rawls’s difference principle argues that in order for any change to be accepted as an improvement, it must help the least advantaged representative person. In his opinion, social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that it may provide greatest benefit of the least advantaged (A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls, 2005). Rawls’ two ‘principles of justice’ and socialism Socialism argues for a completely classless society, where the government controls all means of production and distribution of goods. They believe this control is necessary to eliminate competition among the people and put everyone on a level playing field (Liese, 2008). When we analyze the views of socialism and the views of Rawls, we can see that both the views have similarities and differences. Socialism argues for the equal rights to all and the advocates of socialism believe that only a class less society can ensure equal opportunities to all and for that purpose, governments should have upper hand in all the matters related to the social and political life of the public. In other words, individuals have not much role in a socialist country. Rawls on the other hand argues for the liberties of the individual and the society. His liberty principle argues for democratic freedom of thought, conscience, religion etc. At the same time, Rawls believed that these liberties cannot restrict or violate similar schemes of liberty for others. In other words, there should be no discrimination with respect to the freedom of expression, freedom to believe in religions etc. Freedom of thought, religion etc are evils according to the principles of socialism. For example, in China, the freedom of expression and the religious freedom are limited. The ultimate word comes from the government, not from the people. Rawls on the other hand believe that the final word should be from the public, not from the government. In his opinion, the individuals and the society should have the upper hand than the government in achieving the liberty and equality. In short, both socialism and Rawls’s liberty principle argues for providing equalities to all. Socialism argues for the government controlled route whereas Rawls argued for the public controlled route in achieving liberty and equality. Rawls’ two ‘principles of justice’ and Capitalism “Capitalism is the economic system based on private or corporate ownership of, production and distribution of goods” (Socialism and capitalism, n.d). Capitalism believes that it is the natural right of a person to acquire property and it is unethical to deny such natural right. Capitalists believe that those who work hard should have the right to earn more. It is injustice to share the rewards acquired through hard work to others who worked less. Man is a social animal. It is impossible for a person to live in a society without seeking support from others. Moreover, no two individuals are alike either physically or mentally. In other words, the ability to explore or exploit possibilities might be different for different people. Under such circumstances, it is a fact that the stronger one might exploit the weaker one. Rawls’s principle of difference argues for equal opportunity and the work to the benefit of the least advantaged group in society. According to Rawls, the natural differences of the individuals should not be a factor in granting equal opportunities to all. In his opinion, personal characteristics are a result of the environment in which we are raised and we cannot claim moral credit for that. In other words, nobody can take better opportunities as granted. Comparison of capitalism and socialism with respect to Rawls’s principles Rawls’s principles have similarities and differences with respect to capitalism and socialism. Rawls support the socialist view of a classless society in which all the people have equal opportunities and liberties. But he opposes the dominance of governments over the public because such dominance may cause problems to the individual liberties like freedom of expression, freedom to believe in religion etc. Capitalism supports an individual’s natural right to earn. Individual liberties like freedom of expression and freedom to believe in religion are supported by the capitalists. In other worlds, Rawls’s principles support the good elements of both capitalism and socialism while it opposes the evils of both capitalism and socialism. In short, Rawls’s principles argue for an institution in which people enjoys the upper hand with equal opportunities, freedom of expressions, individual liberties etc. Government has less importance in Rawls’s conceptual institution. Conclusions Socialism and capitalism have merits as well as demerits. It is better to have a classless society with people enjoys equality and liberty in all respects according to Rawls. But capitalists believe that formation of such a society should never deny the people’s natural rights. Socialists believe that the formation of such a society is possible only by sacrificing certain natural individual rights. References 1. A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls, (2005), Retrieved on 3 June 2010 from http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~piccard/entropy/rawls.html 2. Liese Anne (2008), "What are the principles behind socialism and wealth redistribution?", Retrieved on 3 June 2010 from http://askville.amazon.com/principles-socialism-wealth-redistribution/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=19910364 3. Socialism and capitalism, (n.d), Retrieved on 3 June 2010 from http://www.mcwdn.org/ECONOMICS/CapSoc.html Read More