Discrimination: Concept of

Abstract

The concept of “discrimination” belongs to a complex semantic field formed through significant phases in the term’s transformation, which are addressed here both diachronically and synchronically using the conceptual analysis method. In the first stage, “to discriminate” meant having the cognitive competence to “distinguish” objects so as to group them into classes. In the second stage, it came to mean also “to separate” whatever is so distinguished and classified as “different,” which could allow prejudices to be introduced into its conceptualization, thus stigmatizing “difference.” Accordingly, the term gained a pejorative connotation, morally and politically, because such classification could entail adverse effects on the quality of life of individuals and groups. That, in turn, can become a subject for study by applied ethics and bioethics. In the third – and currently ongoing – stage, “discrimination” is being resemanticized positively to assert a “right to difference” and to resist discriminatory practices. The term has thus gained a different moral and political meaning from that of the previous stage, one which may be used as a rationale for practices such as “reverse discrimination” or “affirmative action,” understood as corrective, compensatory measures for individuals and social groups considered to have been discriminated against and, therefore, wronged.