Equality and Aristotle

Aristotle understands that justice depends on “treating equally what is equal and differently what is unequal, to the extent of the inequality”.

I am not sure whether the Greek philosopher’s proportional equality concept inspired John F. Kennedy but when the US President coined the term “affirmative action” in 1961 he was translating into policies the Aristotelian aphorism.

In the context of African American Civil Rights Movement, Kennedy’s speech aimed the mitigation of racial discrimination.

Race, color, religion, sex, and nationality were then recognized as prevalent stereotypes in institutional and individual decision-making processes that prevented certain groups from having the same access to opportunities than other people.

The US government, thus, allocated few slots for capable representatives of these marginalized groups at educational and governmental institutions. Other countries followed suit.

Canada incorporated the law into the federal legislation embracing even further the country’s famous multicultural approach towards women, the disabled, and indigenous groups.

Brazilian tertiary institutes, largely dominated by Caucasians, earmarked some vacancies exclusively for Afro-descendants.

New Zealand reinforced the revival of local culture by implementing a wide array of political and educational actions to train policy-makers and teachers in Maori language.

The ones who criticize the “unequal treatment to unequals” not only ignore positive implications deriving from the actions mentioned but also claim that affirmative action results in reverse discrimination.

The establishment that politically and economically represents the equal class, however, fails to acknowledge their own biases and prejudices towards certain groups and how “blind spots” end up affecting the welfare of the society as a whole.

Inequality leads to acute social tensions and a contemporary “Tragedy of the Commons” looms large if bounty and burdens are not collectively shared.

Aristotle, therefore, raises a relevant point to public administrators from which society expects the implementation of policies that promote less equality “de jure” and more “de facto”.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/equality/