“WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT, THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL…”

in jefferson •  4 years ago 

image.png

Is that true? Are all men created equal?

What, if anything, is “self-evident” about the idea that “all men” or “all men and women” or “all people” are created equal? And what does it mean to claim that “men are created equal” rather than that “babies are born equal”? We are obviously not all equally intelligent or talented or attractive or coordinated or creative or healthy or hard-working or loving or friendly. In what way, then, are we “equal” to one another?

Or is that, although we are not equal in and of ourselves, we ought to be treated equally, even despite our natural inequalities? Or perhaps it’s simply that our equality resides in the fact that we are all humans, homo sapiens, and that all members of one species should be considered the equals of all other members of the same species. In that case, one could also claim that "all horses (Equus caballus) are created equal."

The only way in which the sentence makes any sense is to interpret it theologically and philosophically. It cannot be held, politically, since there is no contradiction between that statement and certain practical and legally recognized differences in political rights. I am not in favor of universal suffrage, for example. Even to locate the equality by appealing to a faculty within us runs into the problem of the undeveloped, the feeble minded, and the insane.

Authors get paid when people like you upvote their post.
If you enjoyed what you read here, create your account today and start earning FREE STEEM!