Faces of Inequality: A Theory of Wrongful Discrimination

by Sophia Moreau

Overview

This book defends an original and pluralist theory of when and why discrimination wrongs people. Starting from actual legal cases in which claimants have alleged wrongful discrimination by other people or by the state, Sophia Moreau argues that we can best understand these people's complaints by thinking of them as complaints about different ways in which they have not been treated as equals in their societies—in particular, through unfair subordination, through the violation of their right to a particular deliberative freedom, or through the denial to them of access to a basic good, that is, a good that this person must have access to if they are to be, and to be seen as, an equal in their society. The book devotes a chapter to each of these wrongs, exploring in detail what unfair subordination consists of; what deliberative freedoms are, and when each of us has a right to them; and what it means to deny someone access to a basic good. The author explains why these wrongs are each distinctive, but are each a different way of failing to treat some people as the equals of others. Finally the author argues that both the state and we as individuals have a duty to treat others as equals, in these three specific senses.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780197813447
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/26/2025
Series:	Oxford Legal Philosophy
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Sophia Moreau is a Samuel Tilden Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at New York University.

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter One - A Question of Inequality
Chapter Two - Unfair Subordination
Chapter Three - The Relevance of Deliberative Freedom
Chapter Four - Access to Basic Goods
Chapter Five - A Pluralist Answer to the Question of Inequality
Chapter Six - Indirect Discrimination
Chapter Seven - The Duty to Treat Others as Equals: Who Stands Under It?
Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"Sophia Moreau's Faces of Inequality offers a truly novel, ingenious, pluralist account of the wrongfulness of discrimination which fruitfully combines impressive insight into discrimination law with sophisticated moral analysis. I was particularly impressed with her accounts of discrimination wrongs because of how it subordinates and because of how it typically violates people's right to deliberative freedom. Her book is likely to remain at the center of academic discussions of discrimination in legal theory as well as in moral philosophy for years to come." — Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, Professor of Political Theory, Aarhus University

"Impassioned but analytically scrupulous, theoretical but attentive to the real world, Sophia Moreau's Faces of Inequality is a model of how philosophical reflection can illuminate the law, and how legal scholarship can enrich philosophy. The book represents a major advance in our understanding of why discrimination is wrong and how we might combat it." — Niko Kolodny, Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley

"Moreau's pluralist account of why discrimination is wrong demonstrates discrimination's often overlooked moral complexity. Carefully argued and grounded in nuanced descriptions of real cases, Faces of Inequality is sure to be a central text for scholars and students and at the same time will be practically useful to lawyers developing novel legal strategies." — Deborah Hellman, David Lurton Massee Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law

"The nature, scope, and grounding of our obligation to treat each other as equals is at the center of many contemporary debates in law and philosophy. Professor Moreau's sustained and probing examination of the question in Faces of Inequality is superb." — Lawrence Sager, Alice Jane Drysdale Sheffield Regents Chair, Faculty of Law, University of Texas

"Sophia Moreau, for some time a leading philosopher on discrimination, has written an excellent book on the topic." — Bastian Steuwer, Economics & Philosophy

From the Publisher