PHIL 345 - Philosophy of Race

CR: 3
Prerequisite: One PHIL course. A detailed philosophical examination of the concept, historical formation, and social reality of race, raciality, and racism. Possible questions to be explored include the following: is the category of race biologically determined, socially (historically, politically, culturally) constructed, or both? What is the meaning of this concept of race, and what role does it play in individual and collective identity formation? What is the historical relationship between race and power? Is racism best understood as a kind of personal attitude, emotion, and belief, or rather as a structural and systematic phenomenon? How can racism best be resisted or diminished? What are the relations between race and ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality? Not open to students who have earned credit for PHIL 305 in spring 2019. V.5, V.7