Affirmative Action in Education & Employment

The theory of Thomas Hobbes is a theory about morality. To Hobbes, morality is not an issue because the basis of society is to restrict personal behavior by social and legal pressures. Human beings are compelled by natural forces to pursue their own personal desires, and they set aside some of those desires when they enter into a social contract which provides them with a security they would not have had they chosen to remain in a state of nature.

As we read, for Hobbes, "The question of 'good' or 'evil' does not enter into the picture. What is evil is living in fear" (Rosenstand 384). For Hobbes, then, there is absolutely no moral imperative which would call for society to correct past racial injustices through affirmative action.

In stark contrast to Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau sees the state of nature as one in which human beings are free to express not their selfishness and greed but instead their compassion: "So compassion is a prerational foundation for morals. It is the basis of all other social virtues, because we identify with whoever suffers. . .

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f not everything, that we do, whether we act for ourselves or others. Hinman's argument is not merely a distraction, it is an idealistic argument which ignores the basic self-interest of most human action. To try to avoid this fact places our own self-concern at the heart of the moral question, rather than simply accepting whatever self-interest we have, whatever undesirable inclination lies at the heart of our action, and focusing instead on the needs of the disadvantaged minority member who is going to benefit from affirmative action. The more quickly we are honest about our ragged and mixed intentions and inclinations, the more quickly we can focus our energies on those who need doors opened to equal opportunity through affirmative action. The utilitarian moral theory would argue that affirmative action should be used to correct historical wrongs against a minority only if the results of such a step would benefit more people than would benefit if the action was not taken. There would seem to be room in utilitarian moral theory for an argument on either side of the issue. For example, if it were argued that affirmative action would bring about a more peaceful and productive nation overall, then the utilitarian would a
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Approximate Word count = 1513
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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