1. The maximin principle is a theory of distributive justice proposed by John Rawls (1921–2002). The principle states that the social objective should be the maximization of the utility of the worst-off person (the person with the minimum utility). This objective is represented by the maximin, or Rawlsian, social welfare function W = min{U^h}.

2. In decision theory and game theory, maximin is the objective of maximizing the minimum gain. The maximin strategy represents a conservative play of a game and need not be a Nash equilibrium strategy. The terminology first arose in two-player zero-sum games. In such a game the gain for one player is the loss of another. Hence, the game can be represented by a pay-off matrix that displays only the pay-offs to player 1. Player 1 will choose a strategy to maximize the pay-off while player 2 will choose a strategy to minimize it. The resulting equilibrium is termed maximin.