Doctoral Thesis
Treating People Differently
The view that (wrongful) discrimination involves differential treatment on the basis of irrelevant considerations has been scarcely defended. In my thesis, I look to defend it. I develop a notion of irrelevance and use it to describe rationality's role in a conception of discrimination. I also address the worry that a focus on rationality dilutes discrimination's putative moral content. I show that an irrelevance view of discrimination allows that paradigm cases, as marked by socially salient attributes, warrant special moral concern. Two upshots. First, the resulting conception of discrimination is ecumenical with respect to moral theories. Second, the resulting conception of discrimination accounts not just for inequalities precipitated by background injustice, but ones that are new or emerging too. My thesis is available here.