writersgenerallycannotagreeonhowthisrequirementisbest
formulated.^1
It is an implication of this principle of equality that our
concernforothersandourreadinesstoconsidertheirinterests
oughtnottodependonwhattheyarelikeoronwhatabilities
they may possess. Precisely what our concern or
considerationrequires usto do mayvary according to the
characteristicsofthoseaffectedbywhatwedo:concernfor
the well-being of children growing up in America would
requirethatweteachthemtoread;concernforthewell-being
ofpigsmayrequirenomorethanthatweleavethemwith
otherpigsinaplacewherethereisadequatefoodandroomto
runfreely.Butthebasicelement—thetakingintoaccountof
the interests of the being, whatever those interests may
be—must,accordingtotheprincipleofequality,beextended
toallbeings,blackorwhite,masculineorfeminine,humanor
nonhuman.
Thomas Jefferson, who was responsible for writing the
principle of the equality of men into the American
Declaration ofIndependence,saw this point.It ledhimto
opposeslavery eventhoughhe wasunable tofree himself
fullyfromhisslaveholdingbackground.Hewroteinaletter
to the author of a book that emphasized the notable
intellectual achievements of Negroes
inordertorefutethethencommonviewthattheyhadlimited
intellectual capacities:
BeassuredthatnopersonlivingwishesmoresincerelythanI
do,toseeacompleterefutationofthedoubtsImyselfhave
entertained and expressed on the grade of understanding
allottedtothembynature,andtofindthattheyareonapar