Just Published: Philosophy of Race — A Primer

Second book in the Philosophy Primer series.

Cover (Source: Author)

Containing excerpts from my textbook, How We Are and How We Got Here: A Practical History of Western Philosophy, this short e-book focuses on how philosophers have addressed prejudice based on race. It is available here.

From the introduction:

It’s a statement of historical fact, not of politics, that Europeans did not see as their equals many non-European people, in particular the indigenous peoples of the Americas and Africa. The enslavement of non-European people was legally abolished in France in 1794 (but not until 1848 in its colonies), in Spain in 1811 (but also later in some of its colonies), in the Netherlands in 1814, in Portugal in 1819 (but not until 1858 in its colonies), in the United Kingdom in 1833, and finally in the United States in 1865. However, the end of enslavement did not mean equal rights for non-Europeans in any of these countries.

It was not until the early 1900s that the idea emerged of a philosophy dealing specifically with issues of race. Unsurprisingly, the philosophy of race was begun by people of color. Philosophy considers race in terms of its social construction, and it analyzes the cultural and moral effects of attitudes toward race. The philosophy of race deals with how ideas and…