Discussion of the Relationship between Fairness and Efficiency——Based on Rawls'“A Theory of Justice”

Since China’s reform and opening up,from the Third Plenary Session of the 14th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China that put forward"efficiency first and fairness"to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,"first distribution and redistribution must deal with the relationship between fairness and efficiency,and redistribution pays more attention to fairness"Distribution policy,in 2021,the tenth meeting of the Central Finance and Economics Committee clearly stated that it is necessary to promote common prosperity in stages.The relationship between fairness and efficiency has always been the basic principle and standard for the country to formulate policies,and it is also the core issue discussed by scholars.Both utilitarianism and Rawls'two principles of justice provide us with different perspectives to explore the relationship between fairness and efficiency.This article focuses on Rawls's critique of utilitarianism and the specific content of the two justice principles,and makes a simple discussion on the relationship between fairness and efficiency and its enlightenment on the formulation of distribution policies in our country.

The Basic Principles and Value Dimensions of Achieving Distributive Justice through Social Institutions

To achieve the value goal of distributive justice, human society turns to the rational design and organization of social institutions. The construction of social institutions aimed at distributive justice should observe the following principles： equal opportunity, equal distribution of benefits and obligations, rational distribution criteria and procedures, and rectification of injustices. Social institutions established on these principles demonstrate inherent fairness and can ensure that social resources are distributed in an equitable way. For social institutions to ensure distributive justice is of great practical significance because this helps society integrate individuals＇ singular intentionality of pursuing distributive justice into a collective intentionality that fosters a social perspective on investigating distributive justice, establishes an egalitarian concept of distributive justice, and provides more effective protection for acts promoting distributive justice and stronger sanctions for acts undermining it. This maintains and enhances the interests of both advantaged and disadvantaged groups in distribution.