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WillowOne's Positions

Equality

My Positions

  1. We are not all equal.
  2. Some people are better than others, relative to a goal.
  3. People are only better than others to the extent that their attributes afford the capacity to deliver on a particular goal, and then only to the extent of that capacity.
  4. Our differences matter.
  5. We should not aspire to greater homogeneity.
  6. Where possible, we should enable those whose differences impede their capacity to achieve their potential.
  7. People are not better than others in relation to arbitrary criteria (race, gender, sexuality, heritage, place of birth, age), because none of these is a capacity to deliver on any goal.
  8. Equality of opportunity should select only on the relevant attributes of an individual, and on nothing else.
  9. What people are owed equally is equal standing before the law, equal consideration of their interests, and equal dignity. This moral and legal equality is a commitment we make, not a fact we discover, and it is not undermined by factual inequality.

Notes

  • In any goal-directed activity, some individuals perform better than others. Whether in mathematics, ethics, athletics, or leadership, varying degrees of competence exist, and it is rational to recognise superiority relative to criteria of success or effectiveness.
  • The claim that "all humans are equal" is usually intended as an appeal to a moral or legal ideal, not a factual statement about biology, psychology, or experience. Empirically, humans vary widely in genetic inheritance, cognitive ability, temperament, physical structure, health, cultural background, and education. To assert factual equality in the face of such observable diversity is to ignore the complexity of human life, and it sets up the moral ideal to be refuted by the first counter-example. As Aristotle noted, "equals should be treated equally, and unequals unequally in proportion to their inequality" (Nicomachean Ethics, Book V).
  • A professional footballer is better than most at playing football, but is no better than others in any other domain, and their footballing ability gives them no greater claim to a say in, for instance, tax policy. Competence does not transfer, and the modern habit of asking celebrities their opinions on everything is a mild form of the Appeal to Authority.
  • The confusion between the two senses of "equal" does real damage in both directions. Those who deny moral equality point to factual inequality as if it were relevant. Those who defend moral equality feel obliged to deny factual inequality, and end up defending claims that are obviously false. The two should be kept separate: we are factually unequal and morally equal, and there is no tension between these.
  • "Our differences matter" cuts both ways. It is why a diverse team outperforms a homogeneous one, and why a society that tried to make everyone the same would be poorer. It is also why a disability is a real disadvantage and not merely a "difference", and why the appropriate response to it is accommodation (point 6), not pretence.

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