The Ethics and Mores of Race

Equality after the History of Philosophy

By (author) Naomi Zack

Hardback - £75.00

Publication date:

07 July 2011

Length of book:

216 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442211254

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.

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.