Caste as a Social Kind

ABSTRACT Gender and race have received significant philosophical attention recently; they are the paradigm cases of social kinds in most philosophical accounts. I argue for the inclusion of caste as a social kind because it affects the lives of many people, and because it presents itself as an important test case for philosophers of social kinds. I explain some key concepts in the caste discourse, and show how caste is similar and dissimilar to gender and race. I consider how existing theories of social kinds can be adapted to explain the key features of caste. I argue that versions of an ameliorative account, a biologically realist account, and a conferralist account do not sufficiently explain caste as a social kind. I settle in favour of a structuralist account as the most promising theory for caste.