Equality TU 110 Integrated Humanities

Are we all created equal?

Social Equality was a key theme of the enlightenment: ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen’ (French Revolution) ‘All men are brothers under God’ (Voltaire) ‘all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’ (US Declaration if Independence)

John Locke ( ) Natural law dictated that all human beings were fundamentally equal Since every human being walked into the world with the same capacities as every other human being, that meant that inequality was an unnatural result of the environments that individuals are forced to live in.

Enlightened thinkers like Locke were all well and good, but their ideas had serious implications for the wealth, power ad prestige of the European and American powers Inequality was the basis for both Imperialism Slavery Justification for Imperialism and slavery had to be adapted to accommodate the new enlightenment thinking

Polygenism - Joseph Arthur de Gobineau ‘Essay on the Inequality of Human Races’ (1855) - whites were superior to other races and advised great nations to preserve their racial purity, Craniometry - "The Aryan and his Social Role“ (1899) – explained intelligence and racial superiority according to brain size Environmental Determinism - Ellsworth Huntingdon, ‘Civilization and Climate’ (1915)The climate of many countries seems to be one of the great reasons why idleness, immorality, stupidity, and weakness of will prevail’ Environmental Determinism - Ellsworth Huntingdon, ‘Civilization and Climate’ (1915) ‘The climate of many countries seems to be one of the great reasons why idleness, immorality, stupidity, and weakness of will prevail’

As unrealistic as some of those arguments may sound the issue of Race and Intelligence has been a subject of debate and controversy sine the early 20 th century IQ tests in the USA show something called the ‘racial IQ gap’: 1. Asian American 2. White American 3. African American American Psychological Association (1996) stated that the US racial IQ gap was: Not due to bias in the content or administration of tests, Not due to socio-economic status, No adequate explanation of it has so far been given

Some scientists argue that yes, there is a racial element to IQ James Watson "[I am] inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa [because] all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours—whereas all the testing says not really” (2007) Richard Lynn "Skin color and intelligence in African Americans," (2002) “Race Differences in Intelligence: An Evolutionary Analysis” (2006) John Philippe Rushton “Race, Evolution, and Behavior” (1995) Arthur Jensen “The g Factor: The Science of Mental Ability” (1998)

Others, and indeed the mainstream of society argues the opposite, there is no racial or genetic factor involved in intelligence and suggest other factors are more important, for example: Socioeconomic environment Health and nutrition Education Stereotype threat Caste-like minorities Rearing conditions