Book Review: The Logic of Equality: A Formal Analysis of Non-Discrimination Law
| Published date | 01 March 2005 |
| Date | 01 March 2005 |
| DOI | 10.22145/flr.33.1.6 |
| Author | Amelia Simpson |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
BOOK REVIEW
ERIC HEINZE, THE LOGIC OF EQUALITY: A FORMAL
ANALYSIS OF NON-DISCRIMINATION LAW (Ashgate
Publishing, 2003)
Amelia Simpson*
Anyone interested in contemporary non-discrimination jurisprudence will find much
to contemplate in Eric Heinze's The Logic of Equality, published as part of Ashgate's
Applied Legal Philosophy series. Aimed at legal practitioners as well as academics, the
book sets out to illuminate certain enduring features of non-discrimination discourse
and to provide a framework for analysing individual legal disputes. The author largely
succeeds in that aim. However, in avoiding consideration of underlying subjective
values the author leaves untouched an important input into the discourse, lessening
the model's usefulness to disputants and decision-makers.
The book's central thesis is that contemporary non-discrimination discourse in
Anglo-American and European jurisdictions is, in important respects, determinate;
that is, it is conducted within identifiable parameters and conforms to certain set
patterns. The author presents his analysis as descriptive only; that is, as aiming simply
to isolate and illuminate the common threads, neither approvingly nor disapprovingly,
while building a framework for discussing them. The framework that he constructs
employs the tools and methodology of formal logic, attempting to reduce non-
discrimination discourse to a set of variables and sequences that may be abstracted
from the facts of any particular legal dispute.
There are four Parts, each comprising several short chapters. Parts I to III construct
the author's logic-based model. The model's key components are introduced in stages
and their variables are explored. The discussion is likely to be challenging for readers
not already familiar with the methodology of formal logic, although the author does
provide examples and exercises that allow readers to confirm their understanding as
the model-building progresses. By the end of Part III, the reader has been introduced to
the distinction between normative and factual arguments in non-discrimination
discourse and also to the two core variables within the author's model, reflecting the
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* Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Australian National University.
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