ABSTRACT
Salience does a lot of philosophical work and this should not be surprising. After all, as philosophers, we are in the business of trying to explain the world around us and it stands to reason that that which is salient to us will play a key role in those explanations. That said, salience also has unexpected and (ironically) quite hidden consequences. Although salience itself is overt and manifest, salience nevertheless has consequences that are covert and sometimes quite sneaky. Drawing attention to this hidden phenomenon and spelling out some of its philosophical, normative, and social consequences is the main aim of this paper.
First, the sneaky results of salience altering actions are explored and the important distinction between constituting harm and causing it is presented. Then, the paper turns to a particular case; that case involves a white doctor introducing a new Black doctor to a medical practice; although seemingly polite and well-intentioned, this case is nevertheless a racist microaggression. Focusing on the salience-altering aspects of this speech action, the paper explores how it might constitute harm in a sneaky and surreptitious manner and how it might also cause harm in a potent and yet hidden way.
