Can Normative Accounts of Discrimination Be Guided by Anti-discrimination Law? Should They?

A Critical Note on Sophia Moreau's Faces of Inequality: A Theory of Wrongful Discrimination

Authors

  • Rona Dinur European University Institute, Italy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23941/ejpe.v15i2.666

Abstract

In her recent book, Faces of Inequality (2020), Moreau aims at developing a normative account of discrimination that is guided by the main features of anti-discrimination law. The critical comment argues against this methodology, indicating that due to indeterminacy relative to their underlying normative principles, central anti-discrimination norms cannot fulfill this guiding role. Further, using the content of such norms to guide ethical discussions is likely to be misleading, as it reflects evidentiary considerations that are unique to the legal context. The critical comment’s claims are developed based on a close examination of indirect discrimination (or disparate impact) norms, and, as such, have wider implications for ongoing moral and political debates that are heavily influenced by the content of these norms.

Author Biography

Rona Dinur, European University Institute, Italy

Rona Dinur is a Visiting Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute. She holds a PhD in philosophy (2020) and an LLB/BA in law and political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an LLM from Harvard Law School. She served as a law clerk at the chambers of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel. Her work on discrimination has been published or is forthcoming in the Journal of Moral Philosophy and Law and Philosophy.

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Published

2022-11-06

How to Cite

Dinur, R. (2022). Can Normative Accounts of Discrimination Be Guided by Anti-discrimination Law? Should They? : A Critical Note on Sophia Moreau’s Faces of Inequality: A Theory of Wrongful Discrimination. Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics, 15(2), 137–148. https://doi.org/10.23941/ejpe.v15i2.666