DISCRIMINATION

Running head: DISCRIMINATION 1

Discrimination

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Discrimination refers to any type of prejudicial treatment of an individual on the basis of the actual or perceived category. It is normally based on factors such as gender, race, sexual orientation, age, skin color among other characteristics. The primary moral wrong committed by discrimination is the consequences of prejudgment. The utilitarianism moral theory states that instead of judging someone, one should try to maximize on the goodness. Therefore, an action may even be right even if the consequences of the action taken are poor, long and alternatives have been made worse. Thus, one should focus on the positive side of an individual to avoid discrimination. This moral theory also focuses on understanding the welfare of others. Thus, the relative consequences of the action taken by an individual definitely determine the outcome of our actions (Raymond, 2003). Libertarian theory focuses on limiting the public policy with the aim of protecting life, property and liberty of all citizens. This prevents interference by other citizens. It emphasizes on forming association for the welfare of all people.

The primary moral justification in favor of affirmative action is that the policy aims at promoting positive steps that are taken to avoid discrimination. Although affirmative action is mainly geared towards protecting the rights of women, it covers a wider range of reasons behind discrimination simply because is address factors such as race, gender, color, sexuality among other factors that contribute to discrimination (Miller, 2001). Affirmative action can be justified by libertarianism moral theory where the government takes a stand in avoiding the practice of discrimination (Golland, 2008). This is because the government is involved in enactment of affirmative action. Justification affirmative is also based on the fact there are weaker sections of the society that are not only comprised of women who need protection from the government. This means that these weak sections of the society need to be protected through legal rights and limit conditions where they have marginalized or discriminated.

References

Golland, D. (2008). "Constructing Affirmative Action: Federal Contract Compliance and the Building Construction Trades, 1956–1973" (PhD dissertation City University of New York.

Raymond F. (2003). Gregory, Women and Workplace Discrimination: Overcoming Barriers to Gender Equality, Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Miller, D. T. (2001). "Moral credentials and the expression of prejudice". The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 81 (1): 33–43