Against Fairness

by Asma, Stephen T.

• ISBN13: 9780226029863
• ISBN10: 0226029867
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

From the school yard to the workplace, there's no charge more damning than "You're being unfair!" Born out of democracy and raised in our open markets, fairness has become our de facto modern creed. The very symbol of American ethics-Lady Justice-wears a blindfold as she weighs the law on her impartial scale. In our zealous pursuit of fairness, we have banished our urges to like one person more than another, one thing over another, hiding them away as dirty secrets of our humanity. In Against Fairness, polymath philosopher Stephen T. Asma drags them triumphantly back into the light. Through playful, witty, but always serious arguments and examples, he vindicates our unspoken and undeniable instinct to favor, making the case that we would all be better off if we showed our unfair tendencies a little more kindness-indeed, if we favored favoritism. Conscious of the egalitarian feathers his argument is sure to ruffle, Asma makes his point by synthesizing a startling array of scientific findings, historical philosophies, cultural practices, analytic arguments, and a variety of personal and literary narratives to give a remarkably nuanced and thorough understanding of how fairness and favoritism fit within our moral architecture. Examining everything from the survival-enhancing biochemistry that makes our mothers love us to the motivating properties of our "affective community," he not only shows howwe favor but the reasons we should. Drawing on thinkers from Confucius to Tocqueville to Nietzsche, he reveals how we have confused fairness with more noble traits, like compassion and open-mindedness. He dismantles a number of seemingly egalitarian pursuits, from class-wide Valentine's Day cards to civil rights, to reveal the envy that lies at their hearts, going on to prove that we can still be kind to strangers, have no prejudice, and fight for equal opportunityat the same time we reserve the best of what we can offer for those dearest to us. Fed up with the blue-ribbons-for-all absurdity of "fairness" today, and wary of the psychological paralysis it creates, Asma resets our moral compass with favoritism as its lodestar, providing a strikingly new and remarkably positive way to think through all our actions, big and small.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Even Jesus Had a Favorite	p. 1
Saints and Favorites	p. 3
Fairness, Tribes, and Nephews	p. 8
Two Classic Cases of Favoritism	p. 14
To Thy Own Tribe Be True: Biological Favoritism	p. 21
Moral Gravity	p. 22
The Biochemistry of Favoritism	p. 26
Humans Are Wired for Favoritism	p. 29
A Healthy Addiction	p. 31
Flexible Favoritism	p. 34
Kin Selection	p. 36
Rational or Emotional Motives	p. 38
Conflicting Brain Systems	p. 40
Facts and Values	p. 44
In Praise of Exceptions	p. 47
Building the Grid of Impartiality	p. 48
Going Off the Grid	p. 57
Friendship and Favoritism	p. 60
Reasonable Favoritism	p. 64
"But, Dad, That's Not Fair!"	p. 77
The Fusion of Feelings and Ideas	p. 72
Sowing the Seeds of Confusion: Sharing	p. 76
Sowing the Seeds of Confusion: Open Minds	p. 80
Envy and Fairness	p. 85
Excellence, Fairness, and Favoritism	p. 90
The Circle of Favors: Global Perspectives	p. 97
Chinese Favoritism	p. 99
Face Culture	p. 103
Indian Favoritism	p. 106
Disentangling Nepotism and Corruption	p. 110
Disentangling Tribalism and Tragedy	p. 115
"Your People Shall Be My People?"	p. 123
Minorities, Majorities, and Favoritism	p. 126
Affirmative Action and Favoritism	p. 132
The Finite Stretch	p. 141
Feeling the Stones with Your Feet	p. 146
Because You're Mine, I Walk the Line	p. 151
The Virtues of Favoritism	p. 153
You Can't Love Humanity. You Can Only Love People.	p. 162
The Future of Favoritism	p. 166
The Archbishop and the Chambermaid	p. 169
Notes	p. 171
Index	p. 197
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.