Preeminent philosopher, Naomi Zack, brings us an indispensable work in the ethics of race through an inquiry into the history of moral philosophy. Beginning with Plato and a philosophical tradition that has largely ignored race, The Ethics and Mores of Race: Equality After the History of Philosophy enters into a web of ideas, ethics, and morals that untangle our evolving ideas of racial equality straight into the twenty-first century. The dichotomy between ethics and mores has long aided the separation of what is right with ideas of equality. Zack tackles the co-existence of slavery with the classic moral systems and continues to show how our society has evolved and our mores with it. An ethics of race my not exist yet, but this book gives us twelve discerning requirements to establish it.
Preeminent philosopher, Naomi Zack, brings us an indispensable work in the ethics of race through an inquiry into the history of moral philosophy. Beginning with Plato and a philosophical tradition that has largely ignored race, The Ethics and Mores of Race: Equality After the History of Philosophy enters into a web of ideas, ethics, and morals that untangle our evolving ideas of racial equality straight into the twenty-first century. The dichotomy between ethics and mores has long aided the separation of what is right with ideas of equality. Zack tackles the co-existence of slavery with the classic moral systems and continues to show how our society has evolved and our mores with it. An ethics of race my not exist yet, but this book gives us twelve discerning requirements to establish it.
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Ethics, Mores, and Race
Chapter 1: Plato and Aristotle's Invention of Race
Chapter 2: Cosmopolitan Contributions to an Ethics of Race
Chapter 3: Natural Law and Inequality
Chapter 4: Moral Law and Slavery
Chapter 5: Christian Metaphysics and Inequality
Chapter 6: Social Contract Theory and the Sovereign Nation
State
Chapter 7: Deontology, Utilitarianism, and Rights
Conclusion: Egalitarian Humanism and Requirements for an Ethics of
Race
Select Bibliography
About the Author
Naomi Zack is a professor of philosophy at the University of Oregon.
In order to ground ethical judgments about race, Zack (Univ. of
Oregon) seeks a set of requirements for an "ethics of race." She
critically probes the history of philosophical ethics, garnering
valuable insights from each historical period and identifying
problem areas such as elitism, a lack of a notion of human
equality, and an overvaluation of the form of property ownership
without regard to what is owned. Zack also argues that
philosophical ethics has been limited by its close connection to
political theory and ideas of government and that one needs a
cosmopolitan view to provide better ethical perspectives on
questions of race. Zack makes a valuable distinction between ethics
and mores: ethics is a theoretical inquiry neutral of time and
place, whereas mores is concretely historical and tied to group
practices such as religion, tradition, and family. This important
distinction helps readers understand gaps between ethical
pronouncements and actual behavior. The author ends with 12
essential requirements for an "ethics of race." This book is
significant for advancing contemporary discussions of racial
issues. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division
undergraduates and above; general readers.
*CHOICE*
Naomi Zack’s magisterial and monumental work in the ethics of race
is an intellectual tour-de-force that takes the reader on an
exciting scholarly journey through the history of moral philosophy.
Zack is both a philosophical detective combing the history of moral
philosophy and a constructive theoretician who in the end give us
twelve rich, original, and insightful requirements for an ethics of
race.
*Jason D. Hill, De Paul University*
This lucidly written book emphasizes the important distinction
between ethics and mores and demonstrates how dominance of the
latter poses challenges for struggles against racism. Arguing for
egalitarian humanism, Naomi Zack advances an outline for what she
calls “an ethics of race,” a critical position encompassing several
considerations for living in a world riddled by a minefield of
racial impositions and challenges. The virtues of this book are
many. It brings nuance to Zack’s nearly two decades of work on
problems of race and racism, and it outlines the terrain of ethics
and moral philosophy (the normative landscape) in ways accessible
to students and thought-provoking for scholars in the fields of
ethics, political thought, and critical race theory.
*Lewis R. Gordon, Professor of Philosophy and Africana Studies,
University of Connecticut*
Most books on ethics and race have focused on applied ethics
issues, like affirmative action. In this highly original and
challenging discussion, Naomi Zack sets out to answer a different
and harder question: how to construct an "ethics of race" in the
light of the history of ethics in Western philosophy.
*Charles Mills, John Evans Professor of Moral and Intellectual
Philosophy, Northwestern University*
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