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Philosophy and Race

This is an introductory course to the literature and debates surrounding “race” as a philosophical concept. This course will be broken down into the following four parts: clarifying the key terms of the debate, examining the history of the concept of “race,” debating the ontological status of “race,” and understanding the continuing significance of racial identity. To gain clarity on the key terms of this debate, such as race, racialism, racism, ethnicity, whiteness, and social construction, we will read the entirety of Naomi Zack’s book, Thinking About Race. We will then delve into the history of the concept of “race.” Here we will read selections from primary sources ranging from David Hume to W.E.B. Du Bois. After that we will follow the ontological debate between “social constructivists” who argue that “race” is not biologically real and the response from “realists” who believe that “race” has at least a “toehold” on biological reality. The course will conclude by looking at various understandings of racial identity and how it can and does intersect with other forms of identity, specifically ethnicity and gender.