divine right of kings 87have an effect on a person’s behavior or functioning. In
other words, liberal views of discrimination regard all
humans as basically equal, despite their individual dif-
ferences, and therefore deserving of equal treatment by
the law and society.
An older view of humanity, in ARISTOTLE, also prem-
ises discrimination on EQUALITY. Aristotle held that it is
as unjust to treat people who are different (unequal)
the same as it is to treat people who are the same dif-
ferently. Human distinctions that should be respected
include culture, age, gender, and nationality. To treat
individuals of unequal ability (say a C student and an
A student) as equals would be as unfair as treating two
persons of equal ability unequally. The Greek philoso-
pher PLATOasserted that humans could be divided into
three distinct categories: (1) the intellectual, (2) the
spirited, and (3) the economic. Each group, in Plato’s
Republic, should receive a distinct education suited to
their abilities and a position in society using their tal-
ents. To treat all equally would be an injustice, for
Plato.
In the MIDDLE AGES, St. Thomas AQUINAScombined
Aristotelian philosophy with CHRISTIANITY and held
that three groups in society (priests, soldiers, and
rulers) are different by nature and deserve different
treatment and laws.
The MODERNidea of discrimination as a purely neg-
ative or unjust action comes from the liberalism of
John LOCKE, which viewed humans as by nature equal
as members of the same species. Locke held that the
state should treat individuals equally before the law
because of that shared humanity. But the law treating
individuals equally was to be limited to protecting
their individual liberty and property. Twentieth-cen-
tury American liberalism expanded this to use the
state to impose equality on private organizations and
relationships. Now, discrimination came to mean
excluding anyone from something they desire (school-
ing, jobs, status) on the basis of race, gender, religion,
sexual orientation, age, or disability. Such discrimina-
tion implies an absolute equality and any denial of that
sameness as unjust. The social effect of this doctrine
has been the racial and sex integration of schools,
businesses, the military, professions, and government.
In the United States, such equalizing policies have
been associated with affirmative action or diversity,
which actively recruited minorities and women who
had previously been excluded from positions and insti-
tutions. The resistance to perceived reverse discrimina-
tion and revised opinions on the positive aspects of
cultural, ethnic, gender, and racial uniqueness has
caused a reappraisal of the concept of discrimination.
The value of programs for the “gifted” and artistic pro-
grams for certain talented children, the apparently
innate but complementary differences between the
ways men and women think and communicate, and
the preservation of distinctive cultural and religious
heritages have balanced the current definition of social
discrimination.Further Readings
Babcock, B., Freedman, A., Norton, E., and Ross, S. Sex Discrim-
ination and the Law: Causes and Remedies.1975.
Fullinwider, R. K. The Reverse Discrimination Controversy.
Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1980.
Goldman, A. H. Justice and Reverse Discrimination.Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1979.dissent/dissenter
The act of not accepting a political, social, or religious
authority. An individual who refuses to agree to or
assent to such power is often called a dissenter. Like
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, dissent may involve disagreement
with one government policy, ruler, or law or with the
entire social system. Often, dissenteror nonconformist
was the term used to describe the Christians (such as
BAPTISTS) who would not conform to the established
state church (CATHOLICin Europe, Orthodox in Russ-
ian, Anglican in Britain). Another prominent example
of dissenters were the intellectuals (like Andrey
Sokaroff and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn) who protested
the restrictions on individual freedom and political
rights in the SOVIET UNION. Dissenters stand up for
their principles against the state and often are perse-
cuted, jailed, and killed.divine right of kings
The doctrine that European monarchs (such as French
king Louis XIV) have their authority directly from God
and that it is not limited by other people, LAWS, or CON-
STITUTIONS. The theory of divine right of kings, largely
refined by Frenchman Jean BODIN, emerged in the 16th
century in response to popular challenges to royal
authority. Often associated with ABSOLUTISM, such ideas
tied the European monarchies closely to the Roman
CATHOLICChurch and made resistance to the monarch
also rebellion to God almighty. Consequently, when
antimonarchy revolutions in Europe occurred, they