Maria asked:

Is Rawls' liberalism male biased?

Does Rawls' 'Theory of Justice' presuppose a dubious conception of the self?

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Rawls' Theory of Justicereflects a Freudian and Lacanian account of the subject. These
psychoanalytical theories of the structure of the subject can be seen from a first-person perspective to
give a plausible idea of the self.

The person in Rawls' "original position" is abstracted from a subject in real life. He does not operate
within the world of particular situations and so does not act on desires or have personal interests. The
person is an abstract ethical subject who sets principles of fairness. This abstract ethical subject
corresponds to Freud's notion of the Superego, and also the Lacan's Name of the Father. The
Superego, an internalisation of the parental function, is the moralising part of the mind which lays
down the law.

Freud called the instinctual part of the mind the "Id" and the organised, realistic part the "Ego". The
subject who has desires and interests in particular situations corresponds to the Id/Ego.

The Superego does not simply lay down the law, but can contribute pleasure to the desiring subject
— Freud admits this when he claims that the Superego is responsible for humour. Therefore, it can
be allowed that the abstract ethical subject of the original position — reflecting the Superego as it
does — is able to choose "principles which do not defeat his desires".

The same duality between ego and moral force — the Name of Father — is part of Lacan's theory of
the subject. The Name of the Father has a lawlike function of suspending desire, and is more
negative than Freud's Superego but is a similar ethical force.

From the first-person perspective of the self we are aware of an internalised moral code which acts as
a dampening force upon desires in real life situations. It is surprising, and to Rawls' credit, that his
Theory of Justicemirrors theories of the structure of the mind which are still adhered by some schools
of psychoanalysis today.

Rachel Browne