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No, seriously, I'm not confused.
Logical and just are not the same things.
Logical and just are not the same things.
What is logical is strongly dependent on context, motivation and end goal.
If the end goal is to strengthen and reinforce oppressive systems and one's own privilege, injustice is totally logical.
If the end goal is to strengthen and reinforce oppressive systems and one's own privilege, injustice is totally logical.
Why do I make such a big deal about this?
In part because equating logic and justice is connected with intellectual ableism and sanist ableism.
Also because it contributes to the belief that educated people are fundamentally better at making just decisions and arguments.
In part because equating logic and justice is connected with intellectual ableism and sanist ableism.
Also because it contributes to the belief that educated people are fundamentally better at making just decisions and arguments.
It reminded me of this event from 2017 where Oxford's Vice-Chancellor said, in effect, it was queer students' responsibility to figure out how a professor, "a smart person", could have anti-homosexual views and to engage with and challenge those views. https://twitter.com/EbThen/status/904703765437186048
And this is the thing. The person who said that is a political scientist, an educator and an administrator at one of the most respected universities in the English-speaking world.
And to this person, it's logical to force queer students into hostile learning environments.
And to this person, it's logical to force queer students into hostile learning environments.
I would hope most of you reading this would agree that it's actually unjust to expect queer students to try to learn effectively from people with power over them and their futures who are openly anti-queer.
The reason I like this example so much is that the VC here comes out and says, essentially "this person is educated, therefore they are intelligent; this person is intelligent, therefore their oppressive opinions have merit and belong in the classroom".
She makes it explicit.
She makes it explicit.
This is where "logic = justice" and intellectual privilege gets us.
I mean there are several contemporary philosophers and ethicists whose names I work to forget who regularly prove that logical and just aren't the same thing.
