That falls under case 1. It is always possible to answer (given sufficient knowledge) “why did X do Y”. Y can then be called a reason, so in a trivial sense, every action is done for a reason.
Normally, “did they do it for a reason” means asking if they did it for a reason that is not just based on hatred or cognitive bias. Were blacks forced to use segregated drinking fountains for a “reason” within the meaning of Chesterton’s fence?
No, I don’t think it does. We can consider that particular cases of what we now see as harm may have been inspired by bias or ignorance or mistaken premises without thereby concluding that every case must have similar inspirations. Sometimes people really are just spiteful or sadistic. This just isn’t one of those times.
It seems clear to me, though, that Chesterton doesn’t require the fence to have originally been built for a good reason. Pure malice doesn’t strike me as a likely reason unless it’s been built up as part of an ideology (and that usually takes more than just malice), but cognitive bias does; how many times have you heard someone say “it seemed like a good idea at the time”?
That falls under case 1. It is always possible to answer (given sufficient knowledge) “why did X do Y”. Y can then be called a reason, so in a trivial sense, every action is done for a reason.
Normally, “did they do it for a reason” means asking if they did it for a reason that is not just based on hatred or cognitive bias. Were blacks forced to use segregated drinking fountains for a “reason” within the meaning of Chesterton’s fence?
No, I don’t think it does. We can consider that particular cases of what we now see as harm may have been inspired by bias or ignorance or mistaken premises without thereby concluding that every case must have similar inspirations. Sometimes people really are just spiteful or sadistic. This just isn’t one of those times.
It seems clear to me, though, that Chesterton doesn’t require the fence to have originally been built for a good reason. Pure malice doesn’t strike me as a likely reason unless it’s been built up as part of an ideology (and that usually takes more than just malice), but cognitive bias does; how many times have you heard someone say “it seemed like a good idea at the time”?