The Ethics of Diversity:
Race, Ethnicity, and Culture
in Moral Theory
Lawrence M. Hinman, Ph.D.
University of San Diego
3/24/2016
Director, The Values Institute
(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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Introduction


Increasing interest in diversity in the
past two decades
Fundamental question: what place, if
any, do race, ethnicity, and culture
have in moral theory?
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Overview



The Identity Argument
Minority Rights
The Virtues Necessary for Living
Well in a Diverse Society
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The Identity Argument


The basic claim of the identity
argument is that race, ethnicity, and
culture are central to moral identity
The argument has two parts:
– Negative: The Critique of Impartiality
– Positive: The Situatedness of the Moral
Agent
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Impartiality and Particularity

The premise of modern moral theory
has been that the moral agent ought
to be impartial
– Utilitarianism: The Impartial Calculator
– Deontology: Acting according to the
duty of any rational agent
• See especially Alasdair MacIntyre, “How the
Moral Agent Became a Ghost.”
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Godwin’s Choice

Which to choose to
rescue in a burning
building?
– The Bishop of
Cambray (Fenelon)
– His chambermaid

Version #2:
– The Bishop of
Cambray
– Your mother
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Godwin’s Choice, 2
“Suppose the valet had been my brother, my father,
or my benefactor. This would not alter the truth of
the proposition. The life of Fenelon would still be
more valuable than that of the valet; and justice,
pure, unadulterated justice, would still have
preferred that which was most valuable. Justice
would have taught me to save the life of Fenelon
[the Bishop of Cambray] at the expense of the other.
What magic is there in the pronoun "my," that
should justify us in overturning the decisions of
impartial truth? My brother or my father may be a
fool or a profligate, malicious, lying or dishonest. If
they be, of what consequence is it that they are
mine?”
--Godwin, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, Chapter 2
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Two Questions

Godwin’s dilemma poses two
distinct questions to us:
– Behavior: What should I do?
– Motivation: Why should I do it?
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Moral Motivation and Impartiality

Sometimes what is morally required in a
situation is acting out of a particular moral
motivation
– e.g., visiting a sick friend.
– Michael Stocker has argued that modern moral
theory has a kind of “schizophrenia,” a split
between motivation and justification
• Video interview with Michael Stocker on this topic.
– Bernard Williams has pointed out the problem
of “one motivation too many”
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Impartiality and Behavior

Considerations of rights establish
the boundaries within which
considerations of partiality may play
a role:
– In acting on the basis of particularity,
people may not violate rights.
– Thus, in Godwin’s example, we should
not violate someone’s right to be saved.
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Impartiality, Particularity, and
Power

Critics of impartiality often claim that
claims of impartiality often mask
power relationships of dominance:
– Impartiality is really just the partiality of the
powerful.
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Identity and Transparency

For the dominant group in a society,
their particular identity is
transparent, I.e., not perceived by
them as a specific identity
– Supermarket example

For non-dominant groups, their
identity is always experienced as
particular, as specific to them as
members of a group.
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The Identity Argument



Premise 1
What is morally right
depends (at least in part) on one’s identity
as a moral agent;
Premise 2
One’s race (or ethnicity, or
culture) is central to one’s identity as a
moral agent;
Conclusion
Thus, what is morally right
depends (at least in part) on that person’s
race, ethnicity, or culture.
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Premise 1
What is morally right depends (at least in
part) on one’s identity as a moral agent.
 Kantians would argue that moral identity
is purely rational, and that it does not
involve any elements of particularity.
 Supporters of this premise point to special
obligations characteristic of particular
cultures and ethnicities, e.g., placing a
high value on family commitments.
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Premise 2
One’s race (or ethnicity, or culture) is
central to one’s identity as a moral
agent.
 In order to evaluate this premise, we
first must ask: What exactly do we
mean by race, ethnicity, and culture?
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Race, Ethnicity, and Culture

Race
– Initially appears to be biological
– Eventually is seen as socially constructed

Ethnicity
– An individual’s identification with a particular
cultural group to which they are usually
biologically related

Culture
– Set of beliefs, values and practices that define
a group’s identity
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Internalist and Externalist
Accounts of Ethnic Identity

Externalist accounts:
– Ethnic identity is formed by certain external
events, e.g., slavery, persecution, discrimination;
– This even fits within utilitarianism

Internalist accounts:
– Ethnic identity is formed by certain shared
experiences, often of oppression, which bind a
people together
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Responses to the Identity
Argument




Separatist—seeks to preserve identity by
maintaining a separate existence.
Supremacist—seeks power and
superiority over all other groups.
Assimilationist and Integrationist--seeks a
common identity, the “melting pot.”
Pluralist—preserves particularity in a
shared framework, the “crazy quilt.”
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Separatism

May be:
– Partial
– Complete

Examples
– Amish and
Mennonites
– Orthodox Jews
– Acoma Pueblo
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Supremacist


Seeks power and
superiority over all
other groups.
See Jim Crow laws
in the United States,
which tried to retain
white supremacy.
http://www.ferris.edu/news/jimcrow/index.htm.
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Assimilationism


Predominant American metaphor:
the melting pot.
Classic philosophical source:
Richard Wasserstrom, “On Racism
and Sexism.” Wasserstrom argues
that race and gender should be no
more significant than eye color.
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Pluralism



Rejects ideal of impartiality
Seeks to preserve and strengthen
group identity.
Sources:
– Iris Marion Young, Justice and the
Politics of Difference.
– Michael Walzer, Spheres of Justice.
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Pluralism and Multiculturalism

Principle of Understanding
– We seek to understand other cultures before we pass
judgment on them.

Principle of Tolerance
– We recognize that there are important areas in which
intelligent people of good will will in fact differ.

Principle of Standing Up to Evil
– We recognize that at some points we must stand up
against evil, even when it is outside of our own borders.

Principle of Fallibility
– We recognize that, even with the best of intentions, our
judgments may be flawed and mistake.
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Minority Rights


Kymlicka, Liberalism, Community,
and Culture (1989) and Multicultural
Citizenship (1995)
Thesis: liberalism entails minority
rights
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Kymlicka’s Argument
Following Rawls, Kymlicka argues that the
ability to develop and pursue a life plan is
a very important good
 One’s own culture is necessary for
achieving that good
 Many minority cultures need special
protection if they are to continue to exist
 Thus minority cultures must be given
special protection so that all members of
society have an equal opportunity to
pursue a life plan.
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Groups

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Indigenous Peoples
Formerly Enslaved Peoples
Immigrant Minorities
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The Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Compensatory
Justice
– Backward-looking
– Redress past
harms

Rights of
Indigenous
Peoples
–
–
–
–
Language
Religion
Land
Self-determination
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The Rights of Formerly Enslaved
Peoples



Do we owe a special debt to
those who have been
forcibly brought to our
shores and enslaved?
To their descendants?
How is such a debt
measured? Repaid?
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Hate Crimes

One way of providing special
protection to groups that have been
the object of persecution is to
provide special legal sanctions
against persecutory acts--in other
words, against hate crimes.
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The Rights of Immigrant Minorities

What special rights, if any, do
immigrant minorities have if they
have freely come to the United States
in search of a better life?
– Language
– Support
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The Virtues Necessary for Living Well
in a Diverse Society

Lawrence Blum indicates there are
three virtues necessary for living wel
in a diverse society
– Opposition to racism
– Multiculturalism
– Sense of community, connection, or
common humanity
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