Affirmative Action

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Affirmative Action Affirmative action is a form of preferential treatment given to women and minorities in the case of job opportunities. Federally regulated industries are required to be more lenient to hiring people within these groups. This is a controversial subject because different people think that both options are unfair. Some people think that it is unfair to deny people affirmative action because it would take away opportunities from the “less fortunate groups”. Others might think that it is unfair to hire one person over the other just so that they can reach some “minority quota”. So is affirmative action moral? Is it okay to deny jobs to a certain group of people just so another group of less fortunate individuals can have the job?

Free Will

Affirmative action relates to free will because the government is taking responsibility for the injustices of the past by choosing to give benefits to the groups affected.

This relates to Aristotle's statement that we are responsible for every one of our choices and actions. The government represents a country that had previously discriminated against certain groups. As a result, they feel like they are responsible.

Determinism

The decisions that the employers make and someones chances of being hired are dependent on the skin colour or ethnicity of the would-be employee. This relates to determinism because the actions of the employers are being influenced by society's view that minorities are less fortunate and need to be given more opportunities.

B.F. Skinner says that our actions are a result of a cause and effect relationship. The way we act is dictated by the circumstances that we find ourselves in. In the case of affirmative action, women and minorities were discriminated against in the past so, as a result, we now give them preferential treatment to make amends.

Negative Outcomes

Some issues that would come as a result of affirmative action are that people would be denied jobs simply because of their gender or race and that people who may be less qualified are getting the jobs instead. The way to provide aid to a group who was discriminated against is not to discriminate against a different group. That seems very counterproductive and just unfair. Also, affirmative action may result in someone getting the job who is not as qualified as some of the other applicants. This could cause a less than ideal performance which could the cause problems, especially in industries regulated by the federal government.

This could relate to the idea of gender ethics but more specifically, care versus justice. The caring thing to do would be to give the job to the person who belongs to the less fortunate group because they may be in greater need of money. On the other hand, the just thing to do would be to simply give the job to the person who is most qualified.

Questions to Consider

Who gets to decide whether it is right or wrong? The government created it but should the citizens be allowed to decide whether it is moral?

Is one option more moral than the other? People have differing opinions but are any of them objectively better than others?

Do the positive effects outweigh the harm? Is giving jobs to minorities more beneficial than denying jobs for majorities is harmful?

Do the ends justify the means? Is it okay to deny people jobs unfairly if that means less fortunate people get the job?

Deontological

The act of denying or giving someone a job simply because of their gender or the colour of their skin is wrong even if it leads to a person who is not financially stable receiving a job.

Affirmative action is a perfect example of an application for Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative. It would state that under any circumstance, preferential treatment based on race or gender is wrong. Also, you can apply this to Kant's Universal Law of Nature theory and ask yourself, should it be a universal rule that women and minorities be given preferential treatment in all cases. If this were the case, we would be driving back into a state of discrimination except this time white men would be the victim. Since most people would agree that it should not be a universal law, it should not be done whatsoever.

Teleological

Employers are willing to deny someone a job so that another person can get it because they are deemed less fortunate as a result of their identity. They are willing to do something bad like denying someone a job because of their skin colour, so that they can have what they would call a better result by giving a minority the job.

This relates to Jeremy Bentham's Hedonistic Calculus because the person who belongs to a minority would likely feel more pleasure having gotten the job than an other person would have pain for being denied the job. Also, it relates to John Stuart Mill's point about long term consequences. The minority would likely feel more long term pleasure for receiving the job whereas the other person would likely get over it quickly and apply for another job.

Positive Outcomes

Affirmative action could actually be beneficiary because it provides jobs for people who could be at a disadvantage in terms of their ability to become qualified for decent jobs. For example, black communities are, on average, much poorer and less developed than white communities. This makes it hard for people from these communities to recieve a decent education so they need all the help they can get.

This could relate to utilitarianism because the goal of affirmative action is to provide jobs for those who might not be able to earn a comfortable living otherwise. This results in those people being happy and comfortable and the rest can find jobs easily enough. As a result, everyone is able to get a job and pay for the necessities of life.