Counteracting Circumstances
Counteracting Circumstances
This chapter focuses on the neutralization approach and raises a difficulty inherent in it. In particular, it argued that the aim of neutralizing the effects of differences in people's circumstances runs counter to some widely held moral intuitions. For if we suppose that justice or equality of opportunity requires the neutralization of these effects, then it would seem that each of us has a reason to refrain from behaving in any way that would advantage our children relative to others. Yet that, in turn, would entail that we have a reason (even if that reason is inconclusive) not to pass on our skills and experience to our children, or even spend ‘quality time’ with them, when we know that doing so would advantage them. This is strongly counter-intuitive. In place of the neutralization approach, justice requires us to mitigate the effects of differences in people's circumstances.
Keywords: neutralization approach, circumstances, equality, opportunity, mitigation approach
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