Anthony Sangiuliano, Discrimination and Psychological Harm

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Discrimination and Psychological Harm
The idea that discrimination can cause immediate psychological damage to victims’ self-esteem has not played a prominent role in recent theories of the harmfulness of discrimination. I’ll suggest that it may prove useful for resolving an apparent problem with certain otherwise plausible harm-based views of what makes discrimination wrong according to which these views counterintuitively entail that discrimination is wrong by definition. I’ll also show that besides addressing this conceptual puzzle, the idea of remedying mental injury is worth our attention because it is deeply entrenched in antidiscrimination law.
Anthony Sangiuliano
Postdoctoral Fellow
Centre for Ethics
University of Toronto