title: What are we to make of the concept of race? Thoughts of a philosopher-scientist.
abstract: Discussions about the biological bases (or lack thereof) of the concept of race in the human species seem to be never ending. One of the latest rounds is represented by a paper by Neven Sesardic, which attempts to build a strong scientific case for the existence of human races, based on genetic, morphometric and behavioral characteristics, as well as on a thorough critique of opposing positions. In this paper I show that Sesardic's critique falls far short of the goal, and that his positive case is exceedingly thin. I do this through a combination of analysis of the actual scientific findings invoked by Sesardic and of some philosophical unpacking of his conceptual analysis, drawing on a dual professional background as an evolutionary biologist and a philosopher of science.
authors.affiliation: Philosophy Program, The Graduate Center-City University of New York, USA. massimo@platofootnote.org
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pigliucci
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D005075:Biological Evolution; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: Ecotype; Genotype to phenotype mapping; Intelligence; Race