How We Divide The World, By Michael Root

Can race be real, yet not biological? This is a question that metaphysicians, social philosophers, and political philosophers have been asking since the idea of race took hold in daily life. Michael Root, a philosopher at the University of Minnesota believes that race is indeed real, yet in a social context, not a biological one. In his essay, “How We Divide the World,” Root argues, to my agreement, that race is an invented social kind that can have a place in science yet not in biology, though he does fall flat in coming up with a constructive way to deal with racism is today’s society (Root 2000, 2). Claiming that race can have a place in science yet not biology could seem counterintuitive to some. Oftentimes when race is thought of in a scientific manner, it is through a biological lense. A claim is regularly made that racial differences are biological differences; that members of race A would be biologically different than race B. Root, as well as other social realists do not find
This means that someone thought to be of a certain race in one place can be thought to be a different race elsewhere. The example Root gives is that someone could be considered to be black in New Orleans, but not in Brazil (Root 2000, 5). Race is, in a social realistic sense, non-portable. One problem that many philosophers have with a biological view of race is that it can be easily manipulated to be hierarchical. Biological realists can use the idea of biological differences to create what is essentially a “race ranking.” This is seen in the works of famed ethicist Immanuel Kant, who in “Of the Different Human Races” claimed the “noble blonde” to be pinnacle of all races (Mikkelsen 2013, 57). Social realism does not subscribe to any hierarchical interpretation of race. It merely states that race exists, but does not claim one to be better or more noble than