To Stereotype Is to Discriminate

Abstract This chapter argues that stereotyping constitutes a form of discrimination. This is the constitutive claim. It opens with a distinction between two ways in which stereotyping and discrimination can relate to each other. First, stereotyping might cause discriminatory treatment, such as when people act on stereotypes or enshrine them in law or policy. Second, stereotyping might be itself a form of discrimination. Investigating this second claim, the chapter explores the constitutive claim’s deeper justifications and, ultimately, vindicates it. One of the constitutive claim’s upshots is that we can wrongfully discriminate against (or in favor of) others in thought, even if no one finds out. A second implication—crucial for the book’s overall argumentative strategy—is that theories of wrongful discrimination bear on the ethical questions associated with stereotyping.