Session 11 assignment

John Meyer
108018271714
On the selected pages the author defines discrimination in preparation for an exploration
of why people almost instinctively think of it as bad. In the most value neutral or context poor
reading of the word, discrimination simply means to distinguish. The author distinguishes
between discrimination which is “P-based” and that which is “P-ist,” where the latter is morally
objectionable distinguishment against persons on the basis of their prefixed properties as
members of a socially salient group and the former is the same, but not morally objectionable. In
plain language, the formula he lays out for discrimination is as follows: some individual, group,
or institution treats some person or persons differently as compared to some other person or
persons in some specific way that is advantageous or disadvantageous, and this difference in
treatment really can be explained by the difference in socially salient group membership. Not
needed are particular values or beliefs from the discriminating agent; positive or negative
discrimination can exist perfectly well without them, though they might augment our
understanding of the character of the discrimination. The key takeaways from this view are that
discrimination cannot be found without differential treatment, that discriminators could share
group membership with those they discriminate against, and that anyone can discriminate against
anyone regardless of relative power position.