Robin O. Andreasen

Advisory Editor, The Monist, Special Issue on Race, Appearing in 2010.

This issue of The Monist will explore race – both the concept and the category – from a philosophical point of view.  The focus will be not only on the metaphysical and epistemological issues related to racial classification, but also on the social and psychological aspects of race.  What is race?  What sort of category is it, ontologically speaking?  Is it an empty category?  If not, is it a biological kind, a social kind, or perhaps both?  How is race conceptualized both scientifically and in everyday discourse?  What is the proper relationship between scientific and everyday conceptions of race?  What are the biological, social, historical, and political origins of racial thinking?  What aspects of human cognition, if any, shape racial thinking?  Can a better understanding of race help our efforts to challenge racism and racial injustice?  How would race be conceptualized in a just (non-racist) society?  Would an ideal society conserve or eliminate racial classification schemes?  Of particular interest will be papers that aim to integrate treatments of these questions in the wider discourse of science and philosophy.

Deadline for submissions: January 31, 2009

Books:

Feminist Theory: A Philosophical Anthology, with Ann Cudd, Blackwell Press, 2005.

Articles and Chapters:

"The Concept of Race in Medicine," in M. Ruse (ed.), The Oxford Handbook to the Philosophy of Biology, Oxford University Press, in press.

"Biological Conceptions of Race," in M. Matthen and C. L. Stephens (eds), Handbook of the Philosophy of Science, Volume 3: Philosophy of Biology, Elsevier Press, 2007.

"The Meaning of 'Race': Folk Conceptions and the New Biology of Race," The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. CII, No. 2, 94-106.

“Institutional Sexism,” in F. Adams (ed.), Ethical Issues for the 21st Century, PDC Press, 2005: 147-163.

"The Cladistic Race Concept: A Defense," Biology and Philosophy, 19 (3), 2004, 425-442.

"The Human Genome Project: A Reply to Rosenberg", with Milo Aukerman, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 17(5), 2002: 673-678.

“Race: Biological Reality or Social Construct,” Philosophy of Science  67 (Proceedings), 2000: 653-666.

“A New Perspective on the Race Debate,” The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 49, 1998: 199-225.

· Reprinted in E. Sober (ed.), Conceptual Issues in Evolutionary Biology, 3rd Edition, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2006.