The experience problem for John Rawls's philosophy: not really a problem? (With Frances Hutcheson, Adam Smith, Alex Ferguson, Spain, and more)


Author. Doctor Terence Rajivan Edward (or 0161__Rajivan, if that helps)
Abstract. The philosopher John Rawls has all these recommendations for how the state should be run, but does he have any experience of politics? Has he actually ever tried setting up a state? Has he even run a department or faculty even, or engaged in some dispute resolution? This is the experience objection to Rawls: surely well known - suggested by Michael Walzer, when he said Rawls does not involve himself in the great game of politics? In this paper, I present an unusual plan for how to set up a football team: a soccer team. Imagine that you are a football manager and I tell you it. Alex Ferguson, the legendary Manchester United manager, says that my plan cannot work. Are you seriously going to accept my plan, with its associated arguments, I who have no experience? But maybe politics is different. Experience counts at the level of being a footballer manager, but it is of no great advantage when you are trying to set up a state? I am not convinced that experience is important for running the School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, at least. I would advertise it like this: "Do you have a big idea for how to improve the school which sounds stupid until you explain why it is a good idea? Then you can be head of school, as long as you are not a puppet for someone else. You are only 9 years old? Lack of interpersonal skills? Lack of experience of the academic class? Don't worry. Autistics proper are rare: you will work out other stuff once in the job." 
Draft version: version 3 (26th June, appendix clarified; v2 7th May objection clarified, v1 on 21st March 2026)
Software used (freeware): google docs, google.com, kleki.com


Why does Harvard know so much about this case
Must I start by trying shoelace?


John Rawls has his political philosophy, composed of his principles, which he recommends. He recommends that institutions implement them, or the major institutions of a society at least, or society with liberal traditions anyway. "Which principles?" It does not really matter here, but first is the liberty principle, according to which all adults or sane adults have a set of basic liberties, the same liberties, equal liberties: freedom of speech, freedom of movement, right to fair trial, right to run for public office, etc.  Then there is fair equality of opportunity and finally the difference principle: put simply, if given a choice of economy A and B and the worst anyone can get in terms of wealth in economy B is higher than A, then prefer B. Also he has some arguments for his recommended system. But what experience does he actually have setting up a state? None it seems. In this paper, I challenge this "experience objection," although with questionable consistency: I do so from my experience!


Let's imagine that you are a football manager. The great football manager Sir Alex Ferguson has kindly taken you under his wing and gives you advice about how to manage in this strange country, England, himself a foreigner. One day, however, I telephone you and say, "Forget about what he says. I have my own idea, which is much better. Ferguson is a Scot. And a Scot believes in specialization and the division of labour. Remember Adam Smith and before him Hutcheson. Football, or soccer as it is called, involves two teams, each trying to score more goals than the other. Mostly you must use your feet, one or the other: as what has contact with the ball to move it, that is. In the Scots eyes, someone has to specialize in protecting the goal. The goalkeeper. Some related specialists specialize in defending: defenders. There are also attackers, who specialize in scoring goals against an opponent, by striking the ball forcefully and accurately with their feet. Between them are midfielders, who pass the ball to attackers. Some score quite a few goals themselves. Sometimes they go long periods without doing so though. That is all the Scottish point of view, derived from the Enlightenment. One man does not do everything. You specialize in one task and I in another and thereby we as a team better achieve goals, sorry I mean ends: we don't have to be best friends too. My vision is different. In football, you can merely have skilled passers. They are so good at passing that passing can function as defence. You cannot get the ball from them, because they pass it so well to one another. No other defence skills required, especially not tackling. You don't need anyone who can strike the ball with force, because if your team are good enough at passing, eventually they can pass the ball into the opponent's goal, thereby scoring a goal." You talk to Ferguson about my idea and he says that it won't work. So do other men of football experience, and women too. There is a lot at stake. You would be a fool to trust me, it seems. ("The only solution to English colonialism is foolishness though." Who said that?)


"This" is the experience objection to attending to John Rawls. It has been realized before, surely. I am not convinced by the experience objection, however. Before saying why, it is useful to distinguish between two versions, the first of which seems closer to the material above.
(a) John Rawls's recommendations go against what people experienced in setting up states or constitutions favour.
(b) Setting up a state or writing a constitution is not something new in human history, yet there is no experience at present to support John Rawls's recommendations.  
Let's say that some people of experience assert (a) to you, whether it is true or not; you don't know whether it is true or false and Rawls gives you no reason to think it is true. Surely you would go with experience!


But here is a tentative response. The state is not a football club, okay (though in some districts this is not so clear).  Does experience matter for setting up one? What experience? ("You need to know that most humans below age 80 want food that won't make them severely ill. And shelter from environmental hazards. That will keep you occupied, okay." Who said that?) Believe it or not, there are roles of some significance which don't require much experience. From my experience of the School of Social Sciences, the University of Manchester, I would advertise the role like this: "Do you have a big idea for how to improve the school which sounds stupid until you explain why it is a good idea? Then you can be head of school, as long as you are not a puppet for someone else. You are only 9 years old? Lack of interpersonal skills? Lack of experience of 'the academic class': homo academicus? Don't worry. Autistics proper are rare: you will work out other stuff once in the job." A lot of constitutions take inspiration from philosophers, don't they? "Our basic law is…." 


Appendix
This idea of a purely passing team, as a challenge to Adam Smith's recommendations of a team of specialists, with differing specialisms, was influenced by the Spanish tika taka football, which dominated from 2008 to 2012, and maybe beyond.  But is it actually pass-pass-pass? I started making this chart concerning the Spanish national football team, in the 2008 European Championship and World Cup 2010. I specified how goals were scored, according to my casual perception. I wonder why I was so cautious as to make a table though. My alternative team idea above merely requires a suitable topic, suitable nesting, and you can safely ignore such data. I suppose this is what comes from experience. An experienced person in a craft knows how to avoid seemingly inevitable labour and not look a fool.


Goal 1, Russia, Villa pass
Goal 2. Russian, pass through the legs
Goal 3: Shot, not too strong
Goal 4: header after shot
Goal 5: Sweden, Torres header (or shot)
Goal 6: shot
Goal 7: Greece, shot
Goal 8: Header
No goals Italy
Goal 9: Russia: shot
Goal – Germany, deflection (doesn't count?)
Goal 10: Chip over the keeper 


Match loss. Swiss.
Goal 1: dribble and shot (Villa)
Goal 2: shot and deflection, Honduras
Goal 3: Long shot, Villa, Chile
Goal 4: Pass
Goal 5: Shot, villa Portugal
Goal 6: Villa shot (pass?), Paraguay
Goal 7: Puyol Germany, header - this Spanish side history boys
Goal 8: Shot Iniesta


References
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2022. Utilitarianism versus the privileging of speech. IJRDO Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research 8 (11):12. Available at:
https://philpapers.org/archive/EDWUVT.pdf
(This paper of mine feels like Spanish football to me.)
Elberse, Anita. 2013. Ferguson's Formula. Harvard Business Review. A portion available at:
https://hbr.org/2013/10/fergusons-formula
(I have not read the rest.)
Rawls, John. 1999 (revised edition, originally 1971). A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Available at:
https://giuseppecapograssi.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/rawls99.pdf
Smith, Adam. 1776. Chapter One of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Available at: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3300/pg3300.txt
Swift, Taylor, Max Martin, Shellback. 2026. Opalite.
(I didn't refer to it, but is this song something to do with my every-player-only-does-one- thing, passes, alternative to Adam Smith-applied-to-football? Some years ago I told a novelist friend of mine much interested in economics, insofar as I have friends. You probably don't want friends for some School of Social Science tasks, by the way: reducing union influence. As I have said before, strong concern over labour rights will generally mean old man expert-in-the-field management: they will tell you how you can achieve your ends with less labour. There is a clash between fair equality of opportunity - giving others a chance at management - and labour rights, I feel.)


When I look up Alex Ferguson on Google scholar, 21st March 10:31, Greenwich Mean time, on the first page (10 search hits) I get, available for download:
Andrew B Murray, Alexander C Ferguson, and Brenda J Morrison. 1983. The frequency of cat allergy vs dog allergy in atopic children. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 72(2): 145-149. (5th hit.) Available at:
https://www.jacionline.org/article/0091-6749(83)90522-5/pdf
Ferguson, A.S. 1921. Plato's Simile of Light. Part 1. The Similes of the Sun and the Line. The Classical Quarterly 15 (3-4): 131-152. (7th hit.) Available at:
https://ia800607.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/8/items/crossref-pre-1923-scholarly-works/10.1017%252Fs000819730010220x.zip&file=10.1017%252Fs0009838800000604.pdf
Moira Chan-Yeung, Alexander Ferguson, Wade Watson, Helen Dimich-Ward, Roxanne Rousseau, Marilyn Lilley, Anne DyBuncio, and Allan Becker. 2005. The Canadian Childhood Asthma Primary Prevention Study: Outcomes at 7 years of age. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Volume 116, Issue 1: 49-55. (8th hit.) Available at:
https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(05)00606-8/pdf
(There is a lot of medicine by Helen Dimich-Ward to download, it seems. Can we not just take in clueless flashy youthful talent, not "seems dim but flowers at age 50 if you really understand these things"? I might submit a short story soon. There is only so much fooling of people one can do before it is evidence of an overly advantaged system or God, the devil, etc. "We teach children both Greek and Latin because we did experiments on Victorian orphans, and both together works best"???)