- Entitlement is the social materialization of owing
- To be entitled to something is not the same as to be owed that thing,
but there to be a default presupposition that that thing is owed to us.- Consequently, entitlement is not a mental state
(or at least, not an individual’s mental state;
but some of us know that it makes sense to talk of collective mental states, so entitlement might be one of those kind of mental states)
but a social structure or act. - What one is entitled to is a sociological fact,
while what one is owed is a moral (and/or political) fact.
- Consequently, entitlement is not a mental state
- To be entitled to something is not the same as to believe that one is owed that thing
or to expect to get that thing,
but they are closely related:- Entitlement justifies the belief of being owed:
Knowing that one is entitled to something
justifies believing one is owed that thing,
for better (if we are actually owed that thing)
and for worse (if we are not), - since justified beliefs can be false,
and thus one can be entitled to something one is not owed
and vice versa. - Entitlement to things one is not owed is discriminatory,
obviously!
- Entitlement justifies the belief of being owed:
-
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BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 