Justice for the past / / Stephen Kershnar

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910820369203321
• Autore: Kershnar Stephen
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Albany, : State University of New York Press, 2004
• ISBN: 0-7914-8515-3; 1-4237-3980-9
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (171 p.)
• Collana: SUNY series in American constitutionalism
• Disciplina: 323.173
• Soggetti: Minorities - Civil rights - United States; Women's rights - United States; Minorities - Government policy - United States; Women - Government policy - United States; Affirmative action programs - United States; African Americans - Reparations
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-155) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Intro -- Justice for the Past -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- SECTION 1 -- Introduction -- SECTION 2: Civil Rights Laws -- 1. The Most Qualified Applicant -- PART 1. The Job Qualification -- PART 2. The Best Conception of a Job Qualification Yields at Most a Very Weak Reason to Favor a Meritocracy -- PART 3. Antidiscrimination Laws Cannot Be Justified by Meritocratic Concerns -- PART 4. Qualifications for Educational Institutions -- PART 5. Conclusion -- SECTION 3: Strong Affirmative Action -- 2. Strong Affirmative-Action Programs at State Institutions -- PART 1. Introduction -- PART 2. The Duty to Judge Persons According to Their Interests and Desert -- PART 3. Strong Affirmative-Action Programs at State Educational Institutions Cannot Be Justified via Compensatory Justice -- PART 4. Conclusion -- 3. Uncertain Damages to Racial Minorities and Strong Affirmative Action -- PART 1. The Hypothetical Imperative to Distribute Resources in a Just Manner -- PART 2. Compensatory Justice and the Assessment of Damages -- PART 3. Compensatory Justice and Inadequate Knowledge of Damages -- PART 4. We Do Not Have Adequate Knowledge of the Amount of Compensable Injury to Current Members of Some Racial ; Minority Groups -- PART 5. Conclusion -- SECTION 4: Reparations for Slavery -- 4. The Inheritance-Based Claim to Reparations -- PART 1. Introduction -- PART 2. Slavery Did Not Harm the Descendants of Slaves -- PART 3. Compensation May Be Owed to the Descendants of Slaves As a Result of a Legitimate Inheritance Claim -- PART 4. Conclusion -- 5. Reject the Inheritance-Based Claim to Reparations -- PART 1. Objections to the Inheritance-Based Claim to Reparations -- PART 2. Who Owes Compensation? -- PART 3 Conclusion -- SECTION 5: Proper Respect -- 6. Intrinsic Moral Value and Racial Differences -- PART 1. The Expression of Equal Moral Value -- PART 2. The Argument.; PART 3. Implications of the Argument -- PART 4. Conclusion -- SECTION 6: Educational Diversity -- 7. Experiential Diversity -- PART 1. Grutter and Bakke -- PART 2. Experiential Diversity and Truth -- PART 3. A More General Approach to Diversity -- PART 4 Equal-Opportunity Arguments -- PART 5 Conclusion -- Notes -- INTRODUCTION -- CHAPTER 1 -- CHAPTER 2 -- CHAPTER 3 -- CHAPTER 4 -- CHAPTER 5 -- CHAPTER 6 -- CHAPTER 7 -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- G -- H -- I -- J -- L -- M -- P -- R -- S -- T -- W.
• Sommario/riassunto: Among the most controversial issues in the United States is the question of whether public or private agencies should adopt preferential treatment programs or be required to pay reparations for slavery. Using a carefully reasoned philosophical approach, Stephen Kershnar argues that programs such as affirmative action and calls for slavery reparations are unjust for three reasons. First, the state has a duty to direct resources to those persons who, through their abilities, will benefit most from them. Second, he argues that, in the case of slavery, past injustice—where both the victims and perpetrators are long dead—cannot ground current claims to compensation. As terrible as slavery was, those who claim a right to compensation today owe their existence to it, he reasons, and since the events that bring about a person's existence are normally thought to be beneficial, past injustices do not warrant compensation. Finally, even if past injustices were allowed to serve as the basis of compensation in the present, other variables prevent a reasonable estimation of the amount owed.