Double standards
A double standard is a system of norms that ethically assess the same behavior differently, depending on which group of people the person carrying out the work or the persons concerned belong to, or depending on whether they are in a public or private situation inside or outside a community, without there would be an objective reason for this. The double standard can be explicitly reflected in a moral code that depicts a different order of values, or implicitly in the moral perception, behavior and value judgments of individuals. The decisive feature is that "double standards" are used.
A double standard can always be spoken of when different evaluation standards are used, although the facts on which the evaluation is based are (structurally) similar. The term goes beyond the different evaluation of one's own behavior and behavior of others or of behavior that a person demands from others and that which he himself shows ( hypocrisy ). When it comes to a contradiction between what is actually followed and what is outwardly represented, the term bigotry is used instead .
In various areas, certain categorizations of people are prone to double standards , equality with regard to applicable rules is therefore e.g. B. in pedagogy between children and adults, in gender issues between men and women. In politics , the behavior of different parties or states and the demagogic reporting about them in the mass media can be viewed from the point of view of double standards . A double standard can also result from contradictions between individual ethics and social ethics .
The double standard accusation can be used to reject a moral claim made by others (see Tu quoque ). The occasional need to evaluate similar behavior differently is also expressed in the formula Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi .
Double standards differ from self-righteousness insofar as a self-righteous person may make high demands on himself.
There is a danger of double standards in bilateral human rights policy , which binds cooperation with other states to the observance of fundamental human rights. If this bond is only applied inconsistently because of other, higher-ranking interests, this is referred to as "double standards".
Individual evidence
- ↑ Detlef Horster, Nina Oelkers (Ed.): Pedagogy and Ethics. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-8100-3976-4 .
- ^ Mathilde Vaerting : The feminine peculiarity in the male state and the male peculiarity in the female state (= new foundation of the psychology of men and women. Vol. 1). Braun, Karlsruhe 1921 (pirated print. Women's self-publishing, Berlin 1975).
- ↑ Martin Honecker, Introduction to Theological Ethics , Berlin: de Gruyter 1990, p. 9.
