Race realism goes both ways

We examine the philosophy of race from the perspective of the identified problems with such a philosophy - domain problems, deference problems and mismatch problems. Any philosophy of race should consider at least two domains of human endeavor - the social and the natural. In most cases the social domain defers to the natural domain for a biological explanation for race. Some researchers suggest that there is an impasse in the natural domain that keeps the door open for a biological explanation of race. We examine this purported impasse and conclude that there is a complete lack of scientific support for the existence of human races, and that hence the impasse is a mirage. The inference of no biological races is not, however, a non-result. The consequent lack of support for biological races can be acknowledged by social scientists in formulating their social domain-oriented ontology of race.

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Publication Details

Journal
History & Philosophy of the Life Sciences
Published
2025-02-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40656-024-00658-y
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Race, Genetics, and Society
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.63
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article

Race realism goes both ways

Rob DeSalle, Ian Tattersall
2 citations
History & Philosophy of the Life Sciences
Race, Genetics, and Society
3.63
article

Race realism goes both ways

Rob DeSalle, Ian Tattersall
article en
2 citations

Abstract

We examine the philosophy of race from the perspective of the identified problems with such a philosophy - domain problems, deference problems and mismatch problems. Any philosophy of race should consider at least two domains of human endeavor - the social and the natural. In most cases the social domain defers to the natural domain for a biological explanation for race. Some researchers suggest that there is an impasse in the natural domain that keeps the door open for a biological explanation of race. We examine this purported impasse and conclude that there is a complete lack of scientific support for the existence of human races, and that hence the impasse is a mirage. The inference of no biological races is not, however, a non-result. The consequent lack of support for biological races can be acknowledged by social scientists in formulating their social domain-oriented ontology of race.

History & Philosophy of the Life SciencesVol. 47(1)
American Museum of Natural History (US)
Reduced inequalities
Openalex Percentile: Top 9%
Race, Genetics, and Society
3.63
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