This is a question that we can ask about every bias. Is racism ever appropriate? Yes, if you’re casting for a movie where the character’s race is relevant. Is sexism ever appropriate? Yes, if you’re looking to hire a surrogate mother (or, for many of us, a mate). But for other biases the question becomes more interesting.
I’m curious what definition of racism/sexism you’re using here? If you mean a biased belief that doesn’t correspond to reality and/or a ‘bigoted preference’ that is effectively a terminal value then the examples you give aren’t racist.
If you mean making any decision on the basis of race a less contrived, if more mind killing, example is deciding whether to cross the street on the basis of the skin color of the person walking in your direction.
I’m curious what definition of racism/sexism you’re using here?
That’s a very good question, because those are very stretchy words. In those sentences, the definition I had in mind was “making a decision based on race/sex,” with the intention of pointing out that sometimes making decisions based on race or sex is the optimal/correct thing to do. As you point out, those examples don’t fit into either “bias” or “bigotry” because it involves correct judging (and, with the exception of the mate example, perhaps) no terminal value preferences.
I appreciate the suggestion, but I prefer to keep my posts as mind-friendly as possible.
I’m curious what definition of racism/sexism you’re using here? If you mean a biased belief that doesn’t correspond to reality and/or a ‘bigoted preference’ that is effectively a terminal value then the examples you give aren’t racist.
If you mean making any decision on the basis of race a less contrived, if more mind killing, example is deciding whether to cross the street on the basis of the skin color of the person walking in your direction.
That’s a very good question, because those are very stretchy words. In those sentences, the definition I had in mind was “making a decision based on race/sex,” with the intention of pointing out that sometimes making decisions based on race or sex is the optimal/correct thing to do. As you point out, those examples don’t fit into either “bias” or “bigotry” because it involves correct judging (and, with the exception of the mate example, perhaps) no terminal value preferences.
I appreciate the suggestion, but I prefer to keep my posts as mind-friendly as possible.