Prejudice

Dependence on passive discrimination
Prejudiced people

Nature

Prejudice is the unsubstantiated prejudgement of an individual or group, favourable or unfavourable in character, tending to action in a consonant direction. Even favourable prejudices should be discouraged since they too represent unwarranted generalizations, mostly of an irrational nature. Although prejudice may apply to objects as disparate as trade-union leaders, women, or exotic foods, in practice it has been considered as dealing primarily with populations or ethnic groups distinguished by the possession of specific inherited physical characteristics (race or sex), or by differences in language, religion, culture, national origin, or any combination of these.

Claim

There are two types of people: those who divide people into two types, and those who don't.

"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence." (Albert Einstein).

Counter-claim

Prejudgements are normal and common because perception and cognition require the placing of particular items into more general categories. As long as the prejudgement is adjusted to correspond with reality no harm is done, and the process of thinking may be made more efficient.

It is impossible in practice that anyone should avoid having prejudices, even in the gross and derogatory sense of the term. In growing up, we catch them as we catch mumps and chickenpox, but the effect is much worse, for the inoculation we are left with in the case of prejudices is against their being rectified by experience, rather than against our reinfection. In a more refined and philosophical sense, it is absurd to suppose that we should be without prejudice: since proof cannot be endless, some things must be taken to be so if they seem reasonable or evident, even though we know that we may later learn that we were mistaken. (Max Deutscher, Subjecting and Objecting).