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Preserving the Concept of Race: A Medical Expedient, a Sociological Necessity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Stephen G. Morris
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Abstract

In this essay I argue that there are strong reasons for preserving the concept of race in both medical and sociological contexts. While I argue that there are important reasons to conceive of race as picking out distinctions among populations that are both legitimate and important, the notion of race that I advocate in this essay differs in fundamental ways from traditional folk notions of race. As a result, I believe that the folk understanding of race needs to be either revised or eliminated altogether.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 78 , Issue 5 , December 2011 , pp. 1260 - 1271
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

I am thankful to Jason Zinser, Lacey Sischo, and especially Jonathan Kaplan for offering helpful advice during the writing of this essay.

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