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.