If in Doubt, Treat'em Equally
(2009) Workshop on Formal Methods in Philosophy, 6th European Congress in Analytic Philosophy p.219-243- Abstract
- Presumption of Equality requires that individuals be treated equally in the absence of relevant information that would discriminate between them. Our objective is to make this principle more precise, if viewed as a principle of fairness, and to determine why and under what conditions it should be obeyed.
Presumption norms are procedural constraints, but their justification can be sought in the possible or expected outcomes of the procedures they regulate. This is the avenue pursued here. The suggestion is that in the absence of information that would discriminate between the individuals, equal treatment minimizes the expected unfairness of the outcome. A related suggestion is that equal treatment under these circumstances also... (More) - Presumption of Equality requires that individuals be treated equally in the absence of relevant information that would discriminate between them. Our objective is to make this principle more precise, if viewed as a principle of fairness, and to determine why and under what conditions it should be obeyed.
Presumption norms are procedural constraints, but their justification can be sought in the possible or expected outcomes of the procedures they regulate. This is the avenue pursued here. The suggestion is that in the absence of information that would discriminate between the individuals, equal treatment minimizes the expected unfairness of the outcome. A related suggestion is that equal treatment under these circumstances also minimizes the maximal possible unfairness of the outcome. Whether these suggestions are correct or not depends on the properties of the underlying unfairness measure. The required properties are specified. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1458826
- author
- Rabinowicz, Wlodek LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2009
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- in press
- subject
- host publication
- Proceedings of the 6th European Congress in Analytic Philosophy (ECAP 6)
- pages
- 219 - 243
- publisher
- College Publications
- conference name
- Workshop on Formal Methods in Philosophy, 6th European Congress in Analytic Philosophy
- conference location
- Cracow, Poland
- conference dates
- 2008-08-24
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 01a0c44f-4d64-4095-8ca6-d52668ea9139 (old id 1458826)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 11:13:52
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 21:03:30
@inproceedings{01a0c44f-4d64-4095-8ca6-d52668ea9139, abstract = {{Presumption of Equality requires that individuals be treated equally in the absence of relevant information that would discriminate between them. Our objective is to make this principle more precise, if viewed as a principle of fairness, and to determine why and under what conditions it should be obeyed.<br/><br> Presumption norms are procedural constraints, but their justification can be sought in the possible or expected outcomes of the procedures they regulate. This is the avenue pursued here. The suggestion is that in the absence of information that would discriminate between the individuals, equal treatment minimizes the expected unfairness of the outcome. A related suggestion is that equal treatment under these circumstances also minimizes the maximal possible unfairness of the outcome. Whether these suggestions are correct or not depends on the properties of the underlying unfairness measure. The required properties are specified.}}, author = {{Rabinowicz, Wlodek}}, booktitle = {{Proceedings of the 6th European Congress in Analytic Philosophy (ECAP 6)}}, language = {{eng}}, pages = {{219--243}}, publisher = {{College Publications}}, title = {{If in Doubt, Treat'em Equally}}, url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/5725086/1458865.doc}}, year = {{2009}}, }