Reflective Essay Example on Implicit Biases

Smith and Levy both go over on whether or not we are responsible for implicit biases. However, they both have very different opinions on these views. This essay will reconstruct their views on this topic while providing an argumentative reason on why one of these views in my opinion is correct. From a personal standpoint I believe that Levy is correct and that we are not responsible for our implicit biases. This essay will go over the major reasons I believe that the attributions view is correct.

Levy’s main argument is that we are not responsible for our implicit biases. One main reason I agree with this is because the idea that we are not in control of our implicit biases as they are not intentional and come from a place of mind we are not in control of. Another reason is that Levy states “ On the abolitionist view, I may not be responsible for whether I am in the responsibility ballpark, but I am responsible for what I do when I find myself there” (Levy ). This view shows the idea that we are not responsible for our implicit biases especially since we can’t control those emotions since they are unintentional . Another point that Levy tries to make is the idea that we don’t necessarily need to take responsibility for things we do unintentionally and can instead reassure someone when we forget unintentionally. “If there was something that Smith might reasonably have been expected to do, the omission of which caused or contributed to causing her forgetfulness, then an apology of the first kind is appropriate. She should acknowledge her responsibility for her lapse. But if there was nothing that she might reasonably have been expected to do, which would have made her recalling her friend’s birthday more probable, then an apology of the second kind is the only one called for. Rather than acknowledging her responsibility – for she has none – Smith should reassure her friend” (Levy 12).  This shows the idea that while we may not have to take responsibility for actions we can control we can help people through reassurance.

 I do not believe we are responsible for our implicit biases and agree with Levy’s perspective of moral responsibility because often times these opinions are formed from other people and may often not come from a history of ideas that other people have implemented into us. Another reason is because these ideas we often don’t think about because it’s a part of the environment we surround ourselves with and inturn have grown to believe rather than opinionated yourself. We are also not responsible because we are not in control of our ideas. Thich further elaborates on the idea of lack of control which also portrays a lack of responsibility. Since this lack of control is something that we grow accustomed to from our family, friends and lifestyle in total. Levy also presents the idea that we necessarily do not need to take responsibility for our implicit mistakes and instead can take reassurance to help people who may be affected by these biases. This reassurance to people shows that we can understand how someone else may feel for things we may not control without fully taking responsibility for ideas that are out of our control.

 A potential objection is the idea that people should have the idea to research and change their mind; however this is simply not true because people may not have the ability to have their mind changed especially when they have grown up with the same ideals throughout their entire life and have not thought their idea was wrong. This idea is often portrayed by people who object to Levy's point of view. One major point of this is because the internet has made it easier than ever to look into views that may object to your own personal views and the ease of access to these materials. However, this is most definitely not the case and will be the central topic in the next paragraph.

Despite this objection I still believe that Levy is correct, this is because we don’t control the environment we grew up around and the beliefs from our society. Another reason this is wrong is because they didn’t come up with the idea themselves, rather it was something they often grew up around and have been convinced to believe their idea was right and therefore was never exposed to another idea that they could research into. Finally, another objection to this is the idea that we may not be used to hearing objections to our ideas and inturn have no reason to change our ideas when everyone around us has the exact same ideas and viewpoints as us.

These ideas show why I believe that we are not responsible for implicit biases especially with how levy presents his argument to portray the view. Levy portrays these views in a way that shows we are not in control and inturn have a lack of responsibility because of this. Finally, these reasons show why the attributions view is on these implicit biases that we may not have any control over.