ABSTRACT
Epistemic discrimination is prejudice, bias and discriminatory action suffered by individuals in their position as epistemic agents, that is, as individuals who can acquire knowledge, justified belief or understanding. Epistemic discrimination can be intentional or unintentional. It can be the result of the actions of an individual or of deep structural inequalities in society, or a combination of the two. When epistemic discrimination occurs against someone, that person is unduly denied access to the resources and opportunities that they would need to be a successful giver and recipient of epistemic goods like knowledge. They are often denied these resources and opportunities as a result of their social group membership. Members of stigmatized and marginalized groups are especially vulnerable to epistemic discrimination because of the stereotypes that others apply to them and their exclusion from positions of power in which they could facilitate an improvement to their epistemic situation. Epistemic discrimination can be both an epistemic and an ethical harm because people suffer significantly from being denied the status of knower.
