Biological determinism is used to excuse structural inequality.

Evidence

The later meaning of individualism—according to which the factual reality of human nature is comprised of the uniqueness of individuals’ qualities and values, a uniqueness whose development and intensification are moral imperatives—this meaning of individualism is the denial of every kind of equality. For it seems inadmissible to me to construe equality from the fact that each individual is as special and incomparable as every other. That an individual is incomparable is hardly his own positive quality; rather, this arises only out of comparison with others, who are different only in the judgment of an observer who does not find in one person what he found in another. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 690 (#expands, via linked claim)

All social inequality, in the long run, is inequality of income. That is part of the argument for democracy: that the attempt to have a ‘proportionate justice’ based on any merit other than wealth is sure to break down. — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 817 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Gender is a social power structure rather than a genetic trait.; Social and cultural structures overdetermine our natural human constitution.; All social inequality ultimately reduces to inequality of income — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 817 (+4 more)

Related

• All social inequality ultimately reduces to inequality of income (similarity 0.84)
• Individuality and universal equality historically arise as twin reactions to inequality (similarity 0.78)
• Individual uniqueness as a value denies equality rather than grounds it (similarity 0.78)
• Inclusive universal claims arise from within the particular (similarity 0.78)
• True equality among people is impossible due to inescapable uniqueness (similarity 0.78)
• Equality must govern politics even though it is technically a fiction (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Individual uniqueness as a value denies equality rather than grounds it #expands (0.78) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 690
• All social inequality ultimately reduces to inequality of income #contradicts (0.60) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 817
• Social and cultural structures overdetermine our natural human constitution. #expands (0.40)