Why Race Matters: Race Differences and What They Mean (Human Evolution, Behavior, and Intelligence) - Hardcover

Levin, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0275957896 ISBN 13: 9780275957896

Publisher: Praeger Publishers Inc, 1997

Synopsis

Opposing the denial of race differences and the claim that they do not matter anyway, Michael Levin explains why these differences do matter. He summarizes what has been written about the differences in intelligence and temperament, and, more important, explores their larger significance. He rejects charges that biological explanations of behavior are reductivist or determinist, and he explains the circularity of explaining culture in terms of culture.

Levin's naturalistic outlook finds no group superior and predicts moral divergence among groups evolving in different environments. With logical rigor, Levin addresses conceptual issues not touched upon in previous hereditarian work, drawing striking conclusions about justice, race consciousness, affirmative action, individualism, and private and state action. Scholars, researchers, policymakers, and the reading public concerned with issues of race relations, social philosophy, contemporary moral problems, and the psychology of race differences will find the book provocative. No one making an effort to think clearly about race can ignore Why Race Matters.

About this title

About the Author

MICHAEL LEVIN is Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. Among his earlier publications are Metaphysics and the Mind-Body Problem and Feminism and Freedom.

Edition details

• Publisher: Praeger Publishers Inc
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0275957896
• ISBN 13: 9780275957896
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 432