What Is Race?: Four Philosophical Views

Product Description

Across public discourse, in the media, politics, many branches of academic inquiry, and ordinary daily interactions, we spend a lot time talking about race: race relations, racial violence, discrimination based on race, racial integration, racial progress. It is fair to say that questions
about race have vexed our social life. But for all we speak about race, do we know what race is? Is it a social construct or a biological object? Is it a bankrupt holdover from a time before sophisticated scientific understanding and genetics, or can it still hold up in biological, genetic, and
other types of research? Most fundamentally, is race real?

In this book, four prominent philosophers and race theorists debate how best to answer these difficult questions, applying philosophical tools and the principles of social justice to cutting-edge findings from the biological and social sciences. Each presents a distinct view of race: Sally Haslanger
argues that race is a socio-political reality. Chike Jeffers maintains that race is not only political but also, importantly, cultural. Quayshawn Spencer pursues the idea that race is biologically real. And Joshua Glasgow argues that either race is not real, or if it is, it must be real in a way
that is neither social nor biological. Each offers an argument for their own view and then replies to the others. Woven together, the result is a lively debate that opens up numerous ways of understanding race. Above all, it is call for sophisticated and principled discussion of something that
significantly permeates our lives.

Review

“…a rich and satisfying book that presents four key views on the metaphysics of race in critical conversation with one another.” — Katharine Jenkins,
Metascience

“Philosophy of race has experienced a vibrant period of development over the last three decades, and the fruits of this development, as well as its continuation, are fully on display in this book of essays and responses from four of the leading figures in the field…the book exemplifies the use of
philosophical methods and theories to advance discussion about matters of considerable complexity and import….the essays are, from the beginning, developed not only with an eye to articulating each author's preferred theory, but in conversation with one another as well as with the larger body of
recent work in philosophy of race. Combine that with each author's clear and careful exposition of the issues, and there is simply no better book through which to become familiar with the state-of-the-art regarding the metaphysics of race. It will be useful as an introduction, as well as required
reading for philosophers working in this area” —
Australasian Journal of Philosophy

“The book makes clear that, in addition to being real, the metaphysical debate over race (understood as a complex dispute that includes a semantic and normative dimension) is alive and well. It brings together, in one convenient volume, the metaphysical accounts of race of four prominent
philosophers of race at the cutting edge of the field…[the] book provides a wonderful snapshot of the current state of the metaphysics of race. It will be of interest to philosophers unfamiliar with that debate who would like to know what is going on in the field. It will also be of interest to
philosophers familiar with the work of Glasgow, Haslanger, Jeffers, and Spencer who would like to see the latest presentations of their views. This volume could serve as the centerpiece of graduate seminars on race or as a text in upper-level undergraduate philosophy classes. It is a book well worth
having.” —
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

About the Author

Joshua Glasgow is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Sonoma State University, where he also served as Director of the Center for Ethics, Law, and Society. He has published numerous works in philosophy of race, moral philosophy, and other areas of philosophy. His previous book,
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