Macquarie University

The Philosophy of Race and Identity - PHL352

Here's a surprising fact: race is a myth. In terms of science there is nothing that our ordinary concepts of race and racial difference could be. Yet we still manage to feel the impact of race and racism in our daily lives. In this unit we examine a series of philosophical questions that emerge from these facts: What is our ordinary understanding of race and why does it lack scientific credibility? What do the social realities of race tell us about this concept? And what should we do with race if it really is a myth? Similarly, we shall ask some serious philosophical questions about racism – what is it? And why is it wrong? And we shall look at the philosophical implications of questions about race and racism in our daily lives – should we adopt policies of affirmative action? Is there any kind of racial profiling that is acceptable? And finally we shall spend some time exploring parallels between race and other forms of identity including gender, class and ethnicity.