Equality

[BH]

I was reading some criticisms of Islam in another thread and the issue of equality came up.


Philisophically speaking, what is equality?

Are we all inherently equal?

Should we all have equality or not? Perhaps we all should to a certain degree in some matters but in others not?

If some should not be equal, who should say who is not to be and who is to be? Why should anyone defer to their opinion anyway?

[Chris Porter]

Equality (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/equality/)

are we all inherently equal? Depends on what is being compared, I would state. Men are not equal biologically to women. Men are equal legally to women. Men are equal morally to women (some might contest this with the old, "Women and children first" bit, however)

Religious beliefs often state that men and women (and children, too, I suppose) are equal in the eyes of their god, but that treatment of each gender is not equal. Further, it is not only gender that is not treated equally, it is believer vs heretic, etc. So there are many social groups that are premised on inequality. Thus it may be that some think not being equal is both valuable and desireable.

If some should not be equal, who should say who is not to be and who is to be?I'm pretty sure at this time, the person who says what should be, is carrying the biggest stick.

[untermensche]

Are we all inherently equal?
The opposite.

There are no two equal things in the universe.

Equality is a human invented abstract concept.

[Preno]

Equal in what respect? "X is equal to Y" means "X is in every respect equal to Y" or "X shares all of Y's properties and vice versa". Clearly, humans are not equal in all respects, so what respect are you talking about?

If you are talking about rights, then I do think that people should have equal rights. However, one must note that "A has a right to do X" necessarily means "it is actually possible [by which I mean not only 'physically possible' but also 'realistically feasible'] for A to do X". "Negative rights" are a fiction - to say that both a men in the middle of a desert without any food and a middle-class Italian have a "negative right to eat food" is to say nothing worth saying.

It should also be clear that X doesn't mean a specific action ("the right to own this particular 17 inch Siemens monitor") but a type of action ("the right to own a monitor" or "the right to possession" or "the right to private property"). It is, of course, possible to discuss how general should these types be, exactly.
The opposite.

There are no two equal things in the universe.

Equality is a human invented abstract concept.So is, to extend this logic a bit, 'thing'. You should therefore say "There are no things in the universe".

[untermensche]

So is, to extend this logic a bit, 'thing'. You should therefore say "There are no things in the universe".
There are things in the universe.

A few things.

[Preno]

There are things in the universe.

A few things.No kidding. I was pointing out that your logic leads to absurd conclusions.