the fact I'm a male of northern European heritage, for example, says a great deal about me, and it isn't a moral statement but rather an insight. It's an explanation for why I think what I think and do what I do, not a justification.
In a nutshell this is my problem with Sotomayor. She has called attention to the fact she is a female of Puerto Rican heritage not as an explanation for her conclusions but as a justification. Nothing prescriptive follows from my observation of myself; there is no ought implied by what is. The Sotomayor nomination, in contrast, is being presented against a background call for "empathy".
No comments:
Post a Comment