Redefining Ability, Saving Meritocracy

Abstract

The meritocratic principle of educational justice maintains that it is unfair that individuals with similar ability, and who invest equal effort, have unequal educational prospects. In this paper I argue that the conception of ability that meritocracy implicitly assumes, namely ability as an innate trait, is critically flawed. Absent a coherent conception of ability meritocracy loses its ability to morally evaluate educational practices and policies, rendering meritocracy an unworkable principle of educational justice. Replacing ability as an innate trait with an alternative conception of ability is, therefore, crucial for meritocratic educational justice. I propose incorporating ‘ability as potential’ into the principle of meritocracy and argue that the account of meritocracy that follows is the most plausible account available.