Re: Equality: fundamental truth or necessary sham?

[Paul Hubbard <curley_boy_99@yahoo.co.uk>]

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I composed a response to this thread last night, but
it appears Yahoo decided not to save a copy of it in
my 'drafts' folder when I logged out.  I have had a
VERY long day, and I do not have the wit or energy to
recall what I typed out before.  Therefore, what
follows can be considered the 'edited highlights' of
my original post, and if further clarity is needed on
some points (more than likely) then please let me
know.

In his reply to my previous post, Andrew said:

"Our school system (if i grant the very dubious
assumption that such a concept can be identified given
the variance of type and level of schools and
schooling, from private to comprehensive to stana,
from rich catchment areas to poor catchment areas in
which the everyday practicalities of teaching method
and content are wildly different..."

Whilst my description of "our school system" may have
been rather loose, I would say that it is accurate in
so far as all the variations that Andrew lists above
make no difference to the fundamental aspect which
unites all schools that follow the National Curriculum
today.

At no point during my educational 'career' (or that of
my parents or theirs) was I ever taught 'critical
THINKING'.  My interest in philosophy was nurtured not
through the sciences (with their quest for absolute
certainty), but via history (with its focus on
interpretation of evidence and arguments constructed
on that basis).  Although history is not philosophy
(and what I was taught in those lessons did not equate
to an entire education on how to think 'critically'),
it was the only subject in which facts were treated as
things to be examined and not force-fed down students'
throats.

Thus, when I called the products of such a system(1)
"drones", I did not use the term lightly. 
Vocational-based learning, and assessment via
coursework, may have replaced traditional exam methods
and learning by rote, but it has not altered the fact
that most school leavers today do not have the
necessary skills to analyse much of what is constantly
given over to them as 'fact' in their everyday lives. 
(Perhaps this is what Andrew was getting at with his
comments on the media?)

As for pmaniati's comments, I would say that the
difficulties surrounding 'equality' are not due to
peoples' failure to articulate properly the concept to
which the word applies.  It is not that people have a
poor understanding of the 'idea' (based on a Platonic
Form, perhaps?) of equality, and fail to recognise
every specific instance of it.  But it is rather that
'equality', as applied in the 'social' sense, is not a
word that describes facts but one that is deployed for
ideological purposes.

As has been argued before, there is no such thing as
biological (or 'natural') equality: no two people are
exactly the same.  But what "all men are created
equal" is intended to signify is that all men should
be treated with the same level of respect, receive the
same employment and social opportunities, and have the
same chance as everyone else for a fair hearing before
the law etc.  The reason why 'fairness' or 'justice'
might be seen as possible candidates for the
replacement of the 'social' definition of equality, is
that there is more honesty conveyed in these words
about the ideological purposes that they are intended
to serve (as opposed to the rather ambiguous
'equality').

I would say that equality is useful as a kind of
'yard-stick' for mathematicians and philosophers, but
I do not think that those with an interest in social
policy should be referring to it in the manner in
which they have done in the past (as if terms from the
world of abstractions could be transferred with ease
between that realm and the world of concrete human
beings and their concerns).

Footnote(s):

(1)  For all schools, to be officially recognised as
such, must teach via 'system' of approved subjects and
methods.

PS  I may deal with Andrew's comments on the existence
of 'the state' some other time (when I have the energy
to think!).


		
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