ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an introduction on gender and discrimination, followed by a thought experiment. It is followed by a short discussion and then a series of questions. Most people would say that discrimination is wrong and that as reasonable enlightened individuals one should not discriminate against people based on such things as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion. Catherine MacKinnon argues that despite the good intentions people might unwittingly be perpetuating discrimination. This is explained with the thought experiment with a case of a person named Bill, who is a boss of a small furniture sales business. The questions are intended to get the philosophy students thinking about the problems. They have used these kinds of questions in seminars as the questions set for seminars, so they also think that they can be used to spark conversation and discussion. The chapter also gives a cursory sketch of some of the ways in which philosophers have responded to the thought experiment.
