I think that definition is going to cause some very confusing conversations. We don't generally talk about it being "discrimination" to put criminals in jail, keep abusers away from positions of power, or distrust liars. Generally speaking, when people talk about discrimination, it's because there's an injustice - the difference in treatment is based on stereotypes and hatred rather than any truth about that individual.
Maybe my understanding of the definition of “discrimination” is incorrect then. I understood the definition to be “unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people”
The issue starts to become semantic. If by "discrimination" we just mean "recognizing differences and making decisions based on those differences," then it obviously shouldn't carry a stigma. But usually "discrimination" is being used to refer to unfair or undesirable decisions based on differences, and in this case we need to define what is and isn't fair or desirable.
While you understand the definition of discrimination, you fail to understand the concept and it's legal use.
Discrimination, in the legal sense, says that there should be no prejudice against people by race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and other protected groups.
Criminals lose rights. They lose the right to roam freely in public among many other freedoms. Some of them lose the right to vote. By your definition, we discriminate against criminals since we treat them differently than we do law-abiding citizens.
Do you disagree with the disparity in this treatment?
Many people see illegal immigrants as breaking the law. Ergo the use of the word "illegal." Many people see them as criminals.
Ergo, differential treatment (or discrimination) is justified.
Even outside of these concepts, discrimination happens all the time. When people apply for a job, the smarter, more qualified candidate is discriminated against lesser candidates. Is this not fair?
When the NFL drafts certain players over others, that's discrimination. Is this not fair?
Anytime a person is chosen over another, you have discrimination. Your assertion that it is inherently unfair is wrong.
Discrimination at least in this case means attributing value to a person (seemingly) belonging to a certain group. The word you're describing is called choice.
Right, what's commonly meant when people say 'discrimination' is that someone is making choices between people on criteria that shouldn't matter, such as skin colour, sexual orientation, gender or ... name.
The way things are going, they’re probably defining discrimination as any negative outcome for a member of a marginalised community (where ‘marginalised’ is also defined on their terms.)
> 1. the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of ethnicity, age, sex, or disability.
> 2. recognition and understanding of the difference between one thing and another.
> Deciding who to have sex with is definitely a form of discrimination.
It's definitely discrimination in the sense of (2). But that doesn't seem to have any ethical implications.
Arguing that selecting sexual partners is unjust because it is "discrimination" in the (1) sense already assume it is "unjust". It assumes what is to be shown.
In other words. The reason discrimination (1) is considered unjust is not "because it is discrimination" but because people have made arguments for why treating people differently in certain situations is unjust.
What's the argument for why it's unjust that young men can't have sex with people against their preference?
There's a difference between "discrimination" as in "consideration based on a particular class or category, such as gender, race, sexual identity, etc", and "discrimination" as in "acting upon unreasonable preconceived judgments or convictions". The former is distinguishing differences, the latter is using them in a prejudicial way.
No, it does not fit the definition of discrimination. For example, saying men are on average more violent than women is not discrimination either - it's fact.
Well it's wrong. Wikipedia's source for that definition is listed as https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/discri... but it says: "The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex."
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