This will only make sense to those who have followed the recent series of posts and responses about the fairness of fees to be paid by owners of condominiums in a new complex.
However, the hypothetical thought experiment illumines more than the specific issue. The question is what makes an economic covenant fair.
The right answer is— (drum roll)—option three.
Under the veil of ignorance the majority, if not all of the owners would decide that maintenance fees be based on a mix of an amount based on square footage and an equal amount based on maintenance of the common areas.
Thus, an owner of a 1500 square foot condo will pay more than an owner of a 1000 or 500 square foot condo. But his or her fee will not be based on square footage alone.
Remember that the owners know everything about the complex except the square footage of their individual condos. Insurance covering the buildings will be one lump annual sum. Insurance is the largest single maintenance cost for most complexes. Should there be a fire or flood or other disaster, the owners of 1500 square foot condos would require more output of insurance to rebuild than owners of 500 or 1000 square foot condos.
In any case, all things considered, owners would decide that fairness dictates that owners of 1500 square foot condos pay higher fees than owners of 1000 square foot condos, etc. They would consider the possibility that when the veil of ignorance is lifted they would find that they own largest, mid-size, or smallest condos. They would want to balance the fees so that whichever size they own does not bear the largest burden.
Why would they not decide to make the fees equal. Because they would know that maintenance of the common areas would unfairly burden them IF it turned out that they own one of the larger condos.
What is this ethical thought experiment? It is a case study in John Rawls’s theory of justice as fairness the key idea of which is the veil of ignorance: What would someone decide regarding an economic system under the veil of ignorance? What the majority or everyone would decide is just because that is by definition fair.
Many commenters neglected to realize that in the thought experiment it is not the hypothetical condo owners who are being asked to decide but them—you—the “class,” so to speak.
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