Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. I decided to post an old thing I wrote a couple years back to the opinions section just to tide people over. Have had a very busy life as of late. Will talk about it more. Love y'all < 3
Arguments for and against the notion of protected classes of minority groups from a rule utilitarian framework:
For:
A- a minority of a population may still ultimately make up a significant portion
B- a large number of people experiencing negative utility will reduce the net-median-utility to such an extent to effect the whole
C- any group that has a sufficient portion of the population to effect this net utility must receive moral consideration
D- the way in which these minorities may receive consideration is via protected classes
Therefore, we ought to have protected classes
Utility equation:
N = (U+U2)*UW
U = Majority population utility
U2 = Minority population utility
UW = Utility Weight
N = net utility
This equation presupposes that minority and majority populations must be considered equally, perhaps modification is necessary. Consider the following:
A) a majority population will produce greater net median utility than a minority population
B) to achieve rule utilitarianism, we must necessarily seek to maximize this net median utility
C) the interests of the majority may stand in conflict to the interests of the minority
Therefore, the majority must be weighted more highly than the minority
refutations of the above sentiments:
A) Minority populations may often make up a significant portion
B) this significant portion will result in a reduction of net utility if not considered
C) the interests of this minority are not mutually exclusive with the majority
Therefore, these minorities ought to be considered equally as the lack of their considerations will not produce maximum net median utility
A) Many minority populations (LGBT+) may be closeted or make up a much more significant percent of the population than current predictions
B) A large number of people who may effect the net median utility must be considered
Therefore, these minority populations must be considered
A) The lack of
consideration of some minority populations (LGBT+) is predictive of
poor utility for those outside of that population
B) see
previous premises regarding net median utility
Therefore, these minority populations must be considered
Potential modification of the equation:
N = ((MUW*U)+(MUW2*U2))*UW
MUW = Marginal utility weight (majority)
MUW2 Marginal utility weight (minority)
U2 = Minority utility
U = majority utility
UW = utility weight
N = net utility