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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Aristotle's formal equality principle holds that relevantly similar treatment of cases constitutes equal treatment, regardless of surface-level variation.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Identifying 'relevant similarity' itself requires substantive value judgments that cannot be made neutrally without smuggling in contested moral assumptions.
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    • 2.Formal equality ignores how existing inequalities compound; treating unequal people identically perpetuates and entrenches structural disadvantage.
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    • 3.The principle is circular: it assumes we can determine relevant features independently of outcomes, but relevance is often defined by what equality should achieve.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Justice requires treating morally equivalent situations identically; surface differences (race, gender, wealth) lack moral relevance without principled justification.
      ?

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    • 2.Formal equality prevents arbitrary discrimination by grounding fairness in objective criteria of relevant similarity rather than subjective preferences.
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    • 3.Legal systems need stable, principled rules; Aristotle's approach provides this by defining equality through consistent application of rationally defensible distinctions.
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