The Ethics and Mores of Race
Equality after the History of Philosophy, with a New Preface
By (author) Naomi Zack
Not available to order
Publication date:
02 April 2015Length of book:
220 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9781442249127
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 may not exist yet, but this book gives us twelve discerning requirements to establish it.
In the preface to the paperback edition, Zack addresses the criticisms raised in response to this book and concludes that a focus on rights and justice, rather than privilege, is the only fruitful pathway towards a functioning ethics of race.
In the preface to the paperback edition, Zack addresses the criticisms raised in response to this book and concludes that a focus on rights and justice, rather than privilege, is the only fruitful pathway towards a functioning ethics of race.
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.