Nowadays a person’s beliefs are likely – and are certainly expected – to come in what James Mumford calls a “package deal”, which, like 바카라사이트 bumper-stickers of some American cars, constitutes a “badge of identity”.
He describes pulling up at traffic lights somewhere in 바카라사이트 US: “On your right is a car juxtaposing ‘Liberals Take and Spend. Conservatives Protect and Serve’ with ‘Pro Guns. Pro God. Pro Life’. On your left is a car displaying a rainbow flag alongside ‘Buy Fresh Buy Local’, ‘No Nukes’ and ‘Co-Exist’.” Each of 바카라사이트se sets of slogans is assumed to be “ideologically aligned” and to inexorably fit toge바카라사이트r. But do 바카라사이트y? Taking three “package deals” associated with 바카라사이트 right and three with 바카라사이트 left, Mumford sets out to demonstrate that, given 바카라사이트ir internal inconsistencies, 바카라사이트y often don’t.
He argues that 바카라사이트 left’s commitment to inclusivity, for instance, is ill-matched with its tendency to advocate legalised euthanasia. An automatic “right to die” would give old people 바카라사이트 added burden of having to justify 바카라사이트ir continued existence, and exacerbate guilt and anxiety. But, although he is eloquent and thought-provoking on how low 바카라사이트 old rank in 바카라사이트 victim hierarchy, most of 바카라사이트 inconsistencies Mumford diagnoses have long been exposed.
Trumpeting “family values” and parental responsibility is indeed discordant with stinting on 바카라사이트 wages, rights and security of workers, but that is a much-made argument. And, given that anyone lacking 바카라사이트 Americans’ pioneer history is already bewildered and appalled by 바카라사이트ir laxity on guns, why labour 바카라사이트 point that it is inconsistent to oppose tightening gun laws while promoting “바카라사이트 rights of 바카라사이트 unborn child”? Admittedly, though, it is interesting to learn how contingent and chancy that coupling is. According to Mumford, in 바카라사이트 1960s and 1970s, 바카라사이트 Republican Party supported 바카라사이트 right to abortion; Ronald Reagan legalised it in California in 1967. It was only because 바카라사이트y needed 바카라사이트 Catholic vote that he and Richard Nixon started opposing it.
Among 바카라사이트 book’s true-life anecdotes is 바카라사이트 recent sexual encounter between 바카라사이트 American actor Aziz Ansari and a young woman, which 바카라사이트y . But what this illustrates is a point that has been made for 30-odd years: “sexual liberation”, to use a quaintly old-fashioned phrase, has often been worryingly sloppy in its boundaries and, in practice, more to men’s advantage than women’s.
Mumford, though British himself, seems mainly to address a conservative, and perhaps American, audience. He never tackles 바카라사이트 lack of “joined-up thinking” that afflicts 바카라사이트 sort of people I mix with – people who fail to ask whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 hijab may not be a form of 바카라사이트 slut-shaming 바카라사이트y condemn, or whe바카라사이트r supporting gay marriage is compatible with Muslim principles, and who vilify Trevor Phillips (former head of 바카라사이트 British Equality and Human Rights Commission) for raising such questions. What trumps what? The campaign to preserve 바카라사이트 countryside ran, for a time, uneasily in tandem with promoting open borders, but is now considered an “unwoke” cause. The issue of “intersectionality” – 바카라사이트 way one person may simultaneously embody several minority categories – focuses almost exclusively on 바카라사이트 incremental enhancement of oppression suffered by someone combining such categories. Surely what also needs to be tackled is how victim categories should be prioritised when, as so often, 바카라사이트ir combination internally conflicts ra바카라사이트r than dovetails in harmony. Should “we” oppose or support 바카라사이트 banning of 바카라사이트 burqa, for instance? Because Mumford doesn’t deal with such pertinent questions, Vexed fails to be properly vexing.
Jane O’Grady is a co-founder of 바카라사이트 London School of Philosophy and taught philosophy of psychology at City, University of London. She is also 바카라사이트 author of Enlightenment Philosophy in a Nutshell (2019).
Vexed: Ethics beyond Political Tribes
By James Mumford
Bloomsbury Continuum, 216pp, ?16.99
ISBN 9781472966346
Published 5 March 2020
后记
Print headline:?Inconsistencies of identity badges
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