Our Humanity Contains Multitudes: Dehumanization Is More Than Overlooking Mental Capacities

A longstanding conclusion of work on dehumanization is that the denial of humanity facilitates violence, in part by loosening restraints against harming others (1⇓–3). Rai et al. (4) propose that dehumanization only begets instrumental violence. They claim that dehumanization does not facilitate moral violence because moral violence necessitates blame and dehumanization denies the capacity to act intentionally. However, Rai et al. define dehumanization too narrowly—exclusively as the denial of mind—and thus fail to provide a comprehensive test of this hypothesis.There are many ways to deny humanity. One can deny cognitive capacities, like self-control and rationality, or emotional capacities, like love and embarrassment. Beyond … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: KMF2168{at}gsb.columbia.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1