MSPT Seminar Next Week (10/09/2018): Colin Klein

Implicit Bias and the Ethics of Effect Size

Much philosophical discussion has focused on whether implicit bias exists and, if so, what ethical consequences it has as such. I suggest that it is equally important to consider the magnitude of any effects. There is surprisingly little scientific evidence that implicit bias (as measured by the Implicit Association Test) has much effect on behaviour, and the effects that are present are likely extremely small. I present a novel argument that this is what we should expect, given the structure of the IAT itself. I then argue that focusing too much on implicit bias is itself ethically problematic. It distracts from efforts to ameliorate the very real costs of explicit and structural discrimination, fosters a problematic insularity, and can deny the lived experience of disadvantaged groups. I conclude with some general exhortations about the ethical importance of considering effect sizes.

Monday 10/09/2018, Sir Roland Wilson Building, 2.02, 1230-1400.