Political membership exclusions historically rest on naturalistic claims of inferiority.

Evidence

In response to such blunt declarations of the (non)status of “inferior” beings, Singer’s strategy followed the twofold approach of Bentham. First, he sought to reawaken individuals’ ethical sensitivities by pointing out that numerous classes and groups of human beings have historically been denied recognition as interest holders based similarly on perceptions that their “intrinsic” or “natural” endowments precluded them from full participation as equals in the po liti cal community. By positing that a society of laws must “suppose[] a degree of equality” already existent among its members, Hume enabled the wholesale exclusion of those individuals who were believed to be inferior according to dominant naturalistic understandings. Politics, in that sense, was mere ontology: Any lifeform deemed lacking in strength or reason according to philosophical presuppositions regarding the nature of being simply fell outside the realm of rights or interests. — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere, 478

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘politics as mere ontology’ framing—membership determined by presumed natural attributes—connects to the reader’s colonialism thread and to exclusionary logics across all four Hamline courses. — connects to: Claims about religious disloyalty became claims of racial inferiority — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 323; Civility discourse smuggles in exclusion of those deemed different — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 208; The same perceived traits were celebrated or condemned depending on the political regime (+3 more)
• SEED: A compelling essay or lecture shape: tracing how ‘natural inferiority’ rhetoric about animals, women, slaves, and Indigenous peoples does identical membership-exclusion work across eras.

Broader Connections

• Claims about religious disloyalty became claims of racial inferiority #exemplifies (0.95) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 323
• Perceived natural inferiority follows rather than precedes actual oppression #qualifies (0.85)
• Civility discourse smuggles in exclusion of those deemed different #expands (0.80) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 208
• Racial inferiority ideology emerges from oppression, not merely from perceived difference #exemplifies (0.80)
• Class inferiority functions as an empirically unfalsifiable sense of the rulers’ hidden worth. #exemplifies (0.80) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 501
• The same perceived traits were celebrated or condemned depending on the political regime #qualifies (0.75)