Page "A Theory of Justice" Paragraph 2

Rawls belongs to the social contract tradition.

However, Rawls ' social contract takes a different view from that of previous thinkers.

Specifically, Rawls develops what he claims are principles of justice through the use of an artificial device he calls the Original position in which everyone decides principles of justice from behind a veil of ignorance.

This " veil " is one that essentially blinds people to all facts about themselves that might cloud what their notion of justice is