Learning by Teaching a Class on Intergenerational Ethics — Lesson 8
October 30, 2009Daniel No Comments »Lesson 8 focused on the ethics of social equality, and we spent most of the class talking about affirmative action.
Before coming to Duke, I had never heard anyone use the term “affirmative action.” So for those of you who aren’t familiar with what it is, here’s the ever-dependable Wikipedia definition:
“The term affirmative action refers to policies that take race, ethnicity, or sex into consideration in an attempt to promote equal opportunity or increase ethnic or other forms of diversity.”
At the beginning of the class, we took a poll, and found that everyone believes in social equality. Um, that’s not a big surprise, you might be thinking…
I completely agree, but even though (almost) everyone in the world believes in social equality, we are also extremely divided when it comes to deciding how we ought to achieve it.
Case in point: affirmative action.
Here are some of the arguments for affirmative action:
- It levels the playing field, because a lot of people are born “behind” in life and we should help them “catch up”
- It makes the “glass ceiling” disappear (whether it’s for women/minority ethic groups/etc.)
- It gets you in the door, but if you don’t have what it takes, affirmative action won’t keep you in
- It increases diversity in institutions of education, in the workplace, etc.
Here are some arguments against affirmative action:
- It internalizes the notion that some groups of people are “inferior”
- It de-legitimizes the achievements of those in the minority group (for instance, if affirmative action was widely practiced in medical schools, would it make you doubt the competence of every black doctor you meet– even if he or she really is the best doctor around?)
- It is unfair because more “qualified” people will be denied what they deserve
For the class, we split up into two groups, those for affirmative action and those against affirmative action.
It’s noteworthy that those who were for affirmative action comprised a Jewish male, a black female, and five elderly females, while all the young females and white males were against affirmative action.
Pretty interesting, no?
Personally, I’m still conflicted as to whether I’m for or against affirmative action. Affirmative action would be effective– ideal even?– in a society where the focus is on community and the collective good. But when we’re caught up in the pursuit of our individual liberties, can we fully embrace policies that may infringe upon those liberties?
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