Abstract
In standard cases of discrimination the interests of the discriminatees are considered comparatively worse than those of others. Accordingly, discrimination is often defined as some form of differential consideration or treatment which, among other features, entails a disadvantage for discriminatees. There are some apparent forms of nonstandard discrimination, however, in which it seems that this need not occur. This paper examines three of them: epistemic discrimination, discrimination against entities unable to be harmed by it and nonhierarchical segregation. If, as it seems, these really are forms of discrimination that means standard definitions may fail or must be reinterpreted. There is a way to account for the mentioned nonstandard forms of discrimination by claiming that all forms of worse consideration or treatment can be considered discriminatory. This, however, entails interpreting the term “worse” in a very broad manner, and some may not find this solution intuitive. Despite this, the paper will argue that alternative accounts entail more serious problems.
Funding statement: Funding: Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Grant/Award Number: ‘FFI 2012-31209, 2013–2015’).
References
Alexander, L. (1992). ‘What makes wrongful discrimination wrong?’, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 141: 149–219.10.2307/3312397Search in Google Scholar
Anderson, E. (1999). ‘What is the point of equality’, Ethics, 109: 283–337.10.4324/9780429498190-4Search in Google Scholar
Arneson, R. J. (1999). ‘What, if anything, renders all humans morally equal’, in D. Jamieson (ed.), Singer and his Critics (Oxford: Blackwell), pp. 103–128.Search in Google Scholar
Arneson, R. J. (2006). ‘What is wrongful discrimination?’, San Diego Law Review, 43: 775–808.Search in Google Scholar
Cavalieri, P., Singer, P. (eds.). (1993). The Great Ape Project: Equality beyond Humanity (New York: St. Martin’s Press).Search in Google Scholar
Code, L. (1991). What Can She Know?: Feminist Theory and the Construction of Knowledge (Ithaca: Cornell University Press).10.7591/9781501735738Search in Google Scholar
Dalmiya, V., Alcoff, L. (1993). ‘Are ‘old wives tales’ justified?’, in L. Alcoff and E. Potter (eds.). Feminist Epistemologies (New York: Routledge), pp. 220–221.Search in Google Scholar
DeGrazia, D. (2008). ‘Moral status as a matter of degree?’, Southern Journal of Philosophy, 46: 181–198.10.1111/j.2041-6962.2008.tb00075.xSearch in Google Scholar
Dunayer, J. (2001). Animal Equality: Language and Liberation (Derwood: Ryce).Search in Google Scholar
Ezorsky, G. (1991). Racism and Justice: The Case for Affirmative Action (Ithaca: Cornell University Press).10.7591/9781501724039Search in Google Scholar
Fricker, M. (2007). Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing (Oxford: Oxford University Press).10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198237907.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Garcia, J. (1996). ‘The heart of racism’, Journal of Social Philosophy, 27: 5–46.10.1111/j.1467-9833.1996.tb00225.xSearch in Google Scholar
Halldenius, L. (2005). ‘Dissecting “discrimination”’, Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 14: 455–463.10.1017/S0963180105050619Search in Google Scholar
Hellman, D. (2009). When Is Discrimination Wrong? (Cambridge: Harvard University Press).Search in Google Scholar
Horta, O. (2010). ‘What is speciesism?’, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 23: 243–266.10.1007/s10806-009-9205-2Search in Google Scholar
Knight, C. (2013). ‘The injustice of discrimination’, South African Journal of Philosophy, 32: 47–59.10.1080/02580136.2013.810416Search in Google Scholar
Lippert-Rasmussen, K. (2006). ‘The badness of discrimination’, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 9: 167–185.10.1007/s10677-006-9014-xSearch in Google Scholar
Lippert-Rasmussen, K. (2014). Born Free and Equal? A Philosophical Inquiry Into the Nature of Discrimination (Oxford: Oxford University Press).10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199796113.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Massey, D., Denton, N. (1993). American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass (Cambridge: Harvard University Press).Search in Google Scholar
McMahan, J. (2008). ‘Challenges to human equality’, Journal of Ethics, 12: 81–104.10.1007/s10892-007-9020-9Search in Google Scholar
Moreau, S. R. (2010). ‘What is discrimination?’, Philosophy and Public Affairs, 38: 143–179.10.1111/j.1088-4963.2010.01181.xSearch in Google Scholar
Nagel, T. (1991). Equality and Partiality (New York: Oxford University Press).Search in Google Scholar
Sachs, B. (2011). ‘The status of moral status’, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 92: 87–104.10.1111/j.1468-0114.2010.01387.xSearch in Google Scholar
Sawer, M. (2000). ‘Discrimination’, in K. Cheris and D. Spender (eds.). Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women’s Issues and Knowledge (New York: Routledge), pp. 396–397.Search in Google Scholar
Segall, S. (2012). ‘What’s so bad about discrimination’, Utilitas, 24: 82–100.10.1017/S0953820811000379Search in Google Scholar
Segev, R. E. (2014). ‘Making sense of discrimination’, Ratio Juris, 27: 47–78.10.1111/raju.12033Search in Google Scholar
Vallentyne, P. (2006). ‘Left-libertarianism and private discrimination’, San Diego Law Review, 43: 981–994.Search in Google Scholar
Warren, M. A. (1997). Moral Status: Obligations to Persons and Other Living Things (New York: Oxford University Press).Search in Google Scholar
Wasserman, D. (1998). ‘Discrimination, Concept of’, in R. Chadwick (ed.). Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics (San Diego: Academic Press), pp. 805–814.Search in Google Scholar
Woodruff, P. (1976). ‘What’s wrong with discrimination’, Analysis, 36: 158–160.10.1093/analys/36.3.158Search in Google Scholar
©2015 by De Gruyter