The Idea of Merit: Delineation and Challenges.
The idea of merit is at the core of intense contemporary debate related to social justice in general and meritocracy in particular. In this paper, I aim to differentiate the notion of merit from two other notions with which it is often mistakenly identified, namely the concepts of talent and achieve...
| Published in: | Philosophia Vol. 51; no. 3; pp. 1175 - 1192 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Springer Nature
Jul2023
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=165465305&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 165465305 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00483893 1VPF jtl: Philosophia issn: 00483893 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2023 vid: 51 iid: 3 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 165465305 10.1007/s11406-023-00628-x ppf: 1175 ppct: 17 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 753KB tig: atl: The Idea of Merit: Delineation and Challenges. aug: au: Clavero García, Sergio R. affil: Institute for Culture and Society, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain su: Social justice Meritocracy Ability Social mobility Social status sug: subj: Social justice Meritocracy Ability Social mobility Social status keyword: Achievement Effort Merit Recognition Talent ab: The idea of merit is at the core of intense contemporary debate related to social justice in general and meritocracy in particular. In this paper, I aim to differentiate the notion of merit from two other notions with which it is often mistakenly identified, namely the concepts of talent and achievement. Here, I define "merit" as the value of an action that 1) is imputable to a subject's free conduct, 2) implies some sort of effort, and 3) is oriented towards a good. Merit so understood is a valuable phenomenon considered from various perspectives, and therefore the subject who has it deserves to be properly recognized. But, more importantly, this merit is valuable in a sense that is different from the value attached to talent and achievement. We should therefore try to recognize the three of them according to their specificity. I conclude by signaling some problems and limitations associated with the idea of merit that, on the one hand, contribute to the aforementioned confusion and, on the other hand, show that the principle of merit must not be absolutized to the detriment of other forms of value (including talent and achievement). pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Philosophia is a copyright of Springer, 2023. All Rights Reserved. item: Philosophia holder: Springer Nature dt: @attributes: year: 2023 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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