Better - according to my circle

By guest explorer: Fred Shivvin

The series about the adjective Equal made me think about circular logic. 

I pointed out the argument used by those who set out to oppress others that they are somehow ‘better’ than them, and this justifies both their oppressive actions and their continued status as oppressors.

  

Circular logic (or circular reasoning) is used by people in ‘arguments’ to justify something they believe. 

The 'argument' starts with a point (the premise) that the person assumes is true: in this case 'I am better (superior) than you'. It assumes you already agree that this premise is true, and then no new information is provided to support that premise. You can tell it's circular logic because you can start at either word 'I' in the image and read what seems like a justification. But it's just a circle.

Some circular logic can even sound convincing, but it only convinces people who already agree with the assumed premise. For the rest of us who don’t accept the premise to start with, the argument gives us no reason to change our thinking. 

I don't happen to agree with the premise that any people are 'better' than others, so I don't agree this is the reason that some people dominate others. 

It's not logic at all. It’s a self-reinforcing circle of belief. 

This is why circular 'logic' features so often in 'arguments' about religion.

Circles of justification are extremely common. Spotting a circular argument gives me a sense of accomplishment. They are also sometimes quite alarming. 

Equal 3 - demand rights or limit power?

In this final part of the Equal series, I ask if demanding equal rights is the best focus for achieving a more egalitarian society and improving the lives of more people.

Part 1 looked back at some famous historical conflicts staged in the name of equality, and the documents celebrated as icons of humanity's moral progress toward a more egalitarian society. It pointed out that those famous conflicts were less about a belief in equality and more about resenting and rebelling against oppression.

Part 2 then explored the history of society to see whether inequality is an inherently 'natural' feature of human beings. It found, instead, that inequality was a trade-off for the more efficient resource production of agrarian society. Western* society developed from an egalitarian society through agriculture and an industrialised society that was increasingly hierarchical, with an unfortunate dearth of social controls over the behaviour of leaders, other than outright revolt. 

Who could have a problem with this?

The structure of Western society has become less rigid over the last 100 years, and more people have equal voting, economic and legal rights. Appeals to 'nature' have not prevailed in support of the argument for denying any person equal rights before the law and equal opportunity.

However, one group of people find this all very distasteful.

This third and final part of the Equal series explores the growing influence of this group, the alarming future they represent, and discusses what can be done about it.

Equal 2 - appeals to nature for inequality

Part 1 of this article looked back at some famous historical revolutions staged in the name of equality, and the documents celebrated as icons of humanity's progress toward a more egalitarian society. 

Far from striving for equality, history's revolutions consisted of one section of society rising up against an individual (e.g. King) or a group (e.g. the church) that was usurping their assets and food, restricting their activities or options, oppressing them with gruelling work, or generally just being brutal to maintain control and wealth. 

As I said in Part 1, the 'newly equal' continued to believe in a hierarchical arrangement of humanity, they just moved up the ranking. They drew the line of people who were 'unequal' below them. This reality was captured succinctly by playwright Henry-François Becque: the defect of equality is that we desire it only with our superiors. 

Revolutionary leaders might have lauded the value of equality, but that was not their real driver. The revolutions were actually about securing the material needs of human beings and a sense of dignity by ending these various abuses of power. 

The driver for history's famous egalitarian revolutions was more like the school yard retort: 'You're not the boss of me' or Monty Python's 'Don't you oppress me'. 

That's a long way from a belief in equality with everyone else. Where you sit on this matter hinges on what you think equal means and what you think natural means.

TATKOP 113

There Are Two Kinds Of People: those who dispute there are really two kinds of people and those who enjoy playing with dichotomies.

See more in the TATKOP series.