Reforming Unjust Hierarchies: Why is Role-Shifting the Wrong Answer?
The book Just Hierarchies: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the World by Daniel A. Bell and Pei Wang aims to answer the following question: 'Should morally justifiable social hierarchies structure our social lives on an everyday basis, including our relations with loved on...
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| Contributors: | |
| Format: | Electronic Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Peeters
2023
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| In: |
Ethical perspectives
Year: 2023, Volume: 30, Issue: 1, Pages: 3-18 |
| Review of: | Just hierarchy (Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2020) (Sun, Jinyu)
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Hierarchy
/ Relationship
/ Society
/ Justice
/ Egalitarianism
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| RelBib Classification: | NBE Anthropology NCC Social ethics NCD Political ethics ZB Sociology |
| Further subjects: | B
Book review
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The book Just Hierarchies: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the World by Daniel A. Bell and Pei Wang aims to answer the following question: 'Should morally justifiable social hierarchies structure our social lives on an everyday basis, including our relations with loved ones?' Bell and Wang respond positively. In this article, I mainly focus on the relations between intimates, examining the arguments from the perspective of social egalitarianism and feminism. Bell and Wang argue that hierarchies involving shifting roles are justified, but I shall argue that the defence of hierarchy in intimate relations is not completely convincing. First, the authors mistake hierarchical societies for hierarchical organisations. I will explain why this conflation is detrimental to the defence of hierarchies. Second, the authors neglect to mention some of the significant moral wrongs perpetuated by hierarchical systems. A hierarchy such as a caste system not only fixes inferior and superior positions but also conveys demeaning messages to those who are lower in rank. In addition, we also need to consider the macro-background of specific interpersonal hierarchies to be able to make sense of the wrongs of intimate hierarchies. Third, the practical implications of the defence of intimate hierarchies are ambiguous. I argue that, ultimately, the authors are not able to defend what they set out to defend at the very beginning of the book. |
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| ISSN: | 1783-1431 |
| Reference: | Kritik in "Response to Critics (2023)"
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Ethical perspectives
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2143/EP.30.1.3291693 |