Equality of Opportunity Essay

concepts, the reason why they are so challenged, is contested itself. This essay will identify the main factors that contribute in an extent to this result. In doing so, I will reference to the various dimensions and principles that form the core of egalitarianism, emphasizing on the aspects of equality of opportunity and outcome to present a coherent argument: dominant scholars…

Equality of opportunity is the notion that every person is offered the same opportunities in order to be just, even if the there are preexisting inequalities among persons. A person can become a successful doctor, whereas, someone else can become an unfortunate starving artist. As long as everyone goes with the flow of society via abiding by the laws and engaging in fair play, equality of opportunity is present and occurring, despite the obvious contrasting outcomes. Equality of opportunity…

Equality of opportunity within an economic system is realized when the barriers that obstruct an individual from fulfilling their economic and social potential are dismantled such that the fate of every member of society is determined exclusively by their decisions and preferences. Methods of achieving equality of opportunity target the discriminatory barriers, both legal and prejudicial obstructions, that impact arbitrary groups categorized along racial, class, and gender lines. Members of…

Our educational system has dramatically changed over the centuries. The values and goals that each school, its administrators and teachers are trying to achieve tend to change with each student as there are many outside circumstances that arise. This essay will discuss the different goals that the educational system is trying to meet to ensure that all students, regardless of their race, gender, social background, or religion are provided with the same opportunities to be successful in their…

Equality of opportunity is a political ideal that is mostly opposed to hierarchy. How individuals rank is society is based on a competitive process where all members in society are equal to compete, regardless of their background. According to this idea agents have the opportunities to reach a goal without being set back by any obstacle. An example of a statement of equality of opportunity is “All Irish students should have the chance to get a college degree without the hindrance of racial…

Yes, I Do Work Like a Girl: A Real Issue of Gender Inequality in the Workplace Despite the recent debate over pay equality, the question simply boils down to: do women deserve to make significantly less than men do? Growing up in a educationally disadvantaged community I had always held the view that women didn’t hold management positions, however since enrolled in college my views have significantly changed. Many traditional cultures, including America, teach that men should lead in families,…

Use of Rhetorical Devices: Harper Lee vs. Martin Luther King To Kill a Mockingbird, a popularized historical-fiction novel by Harper Lee, and Martin Luther King’s notorious I Have a Dream speech, emphasize the hope for equality during the Civil Rights movement by using rhetorical devices such as parallel structure and repetition. Atticus’ closing argument in To Kill a Mockingbird encompasses the idea of prejudice and inequality under the law when Tom Robinson, a Negro, is accused of raping a…

Question 3: In Gerald Cohen’s Why Not Socialism, he discusses three types of equality of opportunity: bourgeois equality of opportunity, left-liberal equality of opportunity, and socialist equality of opportunity. Bourgeois equality of opportunity advocates for removal of, “socially constructed status restrictions, both formal and informal, on life chances” (Cohen, 15). Cohen explains formal and informal restrictions using the examples of serfdom in feudal times and the impact of race on life…

The case of British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU is a case that demonstrates both, inequity and inequality. Several factors in reaching the decision have to be assessed in order to identify inequity and inequality. The first factor was stated in British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU (1999) that “First, the employer must show that it adopted the standard for a purpose rationally connected to the performance of the job.”…

The difference principle ensures that any inequality maximizes the state of everyone 's well being. If those in disadvantageous positions are to be benefited by any inequality, it is because they have acquired more resources than before. Thus, Rawls believes that inequality is justified when resources acquired by the well-off end up in the hands of the least well-off. This in itself is a form of redistribution which Rawls feels is necessary, as it is to the benefit of everyone. Rawls also…