ABSTRACT
Discrimination in a familiar, morally charged sense is making a selection that favors or disfavors a member of a group on a morally inappropriate or problematic basis. Selecting Jane over Janis as a friend on the ground that Jane is a white-skinned person and one prefers to befriend those who are white-skinned is arguably discriminating against Janis. One possible view about discrimination and harm is that harmdoing is not necessary for acts to qualify as wrongful discrimination. An opposing view holds that harmdoing is a necessary condition for wrongful discrimination. The positions regarding wrong and harm canvassed here can be contrasted with act consequentialist views. A nonconsequentialist who holds that all wrongdoing is wrongful harming may find discriminatory acts to be wrong that an act consequentialist will endorse as right, and may find discriminatory acts to be permissible that an act consequentialist will judge to be impermissible.
