Anyone still there?
I’m so far behind on this Justice course that it isn’t even funny. Sigh, this is like real school. I’m halfway through Episode 7 right now, and it’s a shame since Ep 9 is the Affirmative Action episode (and I love arguing AA). Don’t worry about ruining it for me though…please sound off. We need to motivate each other.
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All caught up!
The first part of the episode was similar to stuff I’ve seen a lot. What I want to know is this–why do they always get people who rehash the same ol’ pro-affirmative action arguments? It annoys me because as Daniel Golden pointed out in his book, affirmative action doesn’t help Asians. That’s not to say that Asian people should only help themselves, but these Asian rah-rah types act like we’re still living in the 60′s, and they don’t see the problems it creates in their own community. There’s so little critical thought that goes into the policies they’re supporting. (And yes, I realize that there are intelligent arguments for affirmative action–but I didn’t hear any good arguments here. Actually, I didn’t hear any good arguments on either side.)
I think this rah-rah attitude holds people back. Not to single out Hannah, but she was totally rah-rah. She even got the applause to prove it. Life isn’t fair, but it becomes even more unfair when people play victim and use unfairness as a means of eliminating competition.
On a personal note, I voted Obama in large part because of two factors out of his control:
a) He was African American
b) He was neither a Bush nor a Clinton
We needed something and someone new, and we got it. I supported his nomination of Sotomayor for the same reason–we needed diversity. I supported Sam Yoon in part for the same reason.
However, I can’t see the same logic being applied to undergraduate admissions, at least not to the large degree with which it is practiced today. These are people about to start their careers–is it really fair to give an underrepresented minority 15 extra points while giving nothing to Li, despite the possibility that that other minority could have a lot more money than Li? A lot of times, these poor Chinese kids go to the same disadvantaged schools. Affirmative action should be based on socioeconomics, not race. I can’t see why a poor White person should be considered less disadvantaged than, say, the son of Bill Cosby (and if I remember correctly with Michigan, the extra points alloted to a person based on underrepresented race was much greater than the points given for poverty.).
I thought it was great how ep 7 is a setup for ep 9 since it delineates expectations and theory of contracts. It sets up the discussion over what is fair.
I find it interesting that they’re going back to Aristotle. I have no idea what Aristotle said, so I’m looking forward to next week.
My notes:
Pro and anti affirmative action within the auditorium was about 50-50.
divorce distributive justice and moral desert because justice is not a matter of rewarding virtue.
Aristotle disagrees: Justice is a matter of giving people what they deserve
Telos: The goal or end; “teleological”: reasoning from the end
pooh
I just got done watching 5 episodes of Justice in a roll.
You should also check out Bertrand Russell’s “History of Western Philosophy”.
Thanks, Kobukson!
That book has been on my reading list FOREVER.
I am still rolling this issues around in my head.
To paraphrase Sandal, my summary of the episode is Justice is not a matter of rewarding or honoring virtue or moral desert. Tying justice to moral merit or virtue, leads away from freedom from respect from persons as free beings.
I will have further comment after reviewing aristotle.
My issue with having no societal moral direction is that a society that values (values…doesn’t necessarily have to be strict) too much freedom without direction could easily devolve into a bunch of dopeheads who don’t believe in honor. Being a dopehead is fine, but it’s problematic if your whole society sees lazy dopeheadeness as being equal to anything else.