4. veil of ignorance ม่านของความไม่รู้
The term veil of ignorance is
sometimes used to characterize the skeptical consequences
of the theory of representative ideas. According
to this theory, we only directly know the
contents of our own mind; these then form a sort
of veil between us and the external world. This
term is also often used in religion, to suggest a
fundamental feature of the human condition: All
of experience is simply a veil of ignorance between
us and what is most real, or matters most.
The term was given a new use in ethics by John
Rawls, as an important part of his characterization
of the original position. The original position is
a hypothetical state of affairs in which members of
a society choose the principles of justice that will
govern them. This choice is to be made behind a
veil of ignorance in the sense that the persons making
this choice are not to know their class, position,
social class, intelligence, strength, and so forth.
The underlying intuition is that by being ignorant
of these specifics, these individuals will be led to
make an impartial and fair choice.