Professional Ethics

Philosophy 1120
Race and Gender Issues

Learning Objectives
By the end of class today, students
should be able to
Be able to define the following terms
Natural Kinds
Racialism
Racism

Be able to distinguish Intrinsic and

Extrinsic Racism
Give some reasons why racism is
irrational and immoral

Racialism
Species are natural kinds
Biologically different things who are different in
nature independently of what we think

Are there also natural kinds within species?

Racialism is a view that says yes.
According to racialism, there are actual races
in nature just like species
The difference between, say, black people and
white people is a real difference that exists in
nature

Alternatives to Racialism
Constructivism Racial categories exist
but they are not in nature
They are created by our cultural practices
For this view to be true, there must be some
coherent way of sorting people into races

Error Theory Race is an illusion; all our

talk about race is in error
There is no coherent way of sorting people
into races

Extrinsic Racism
Racists are racialists who think the real
difference between races is morally
relevant
A difference between people is morally
relevant if it gives us a reason to treat the two
people differently

Extrinsic Racism
We ought to treat different races differently
because
Having a certain race is correlated with having a
certain moral failing

Extrinsic Racism
The extrinsic racists argument
1) People of race R, are stupid or dishonest
or cowardly
2) People of race Q are not stupid or
dishonest or cowardly
3) People who are stupid or dishonest or
cowardly should be treated differently
than those who are not
4) Therefore, people of race Q and R
should be treated differently

Intrinsic Racism
The intrinsic racist thinks that the
mere fact that someone is of a
different race is a moral reason for
treating them differently
Extrinsic racists think race is correlated
with some other trait that morally
differentiates people
Intrinsic racists think race itself is a
reason to morally differentiate people

Comprehension Quiz
Sarah believes that Asians are
morally inferior because they are
stupid and cowardly. She admits that
if they were not stupid and cowardly,
they would not be morally inferior.
Sarah is best described as an
A: Extrinsic Racist
B: Intrinsic Racist

Sexism
Extending to Gender
Our gender categories natural kinds?
Socially constructed?
An Error?

Extrinsic Sexism
Holds that having a certain gender is correlated
with having some moral failing

Intrinsic Sexism
Holds that having a certain gender is itself a
moral reason to treat someone differently

Heteronormativity
Extending to sexual orientation
Are sexual orientations natural kinds?
Socially constructed?
An error?

Extrinsic Heternormativism
Having a certain sexual orientation is
correlated with other moral failings

Intrinsic Heternormativism
Having a certain sexual orientation is itself a
moral reason to treat people differently

Learning Objectives
By the end of class today, students
should be able to
Be able to define the following terms
Natural Kinds
Racialism
Racism

Be able to distinguish Intrinsic and

Extrinsic Racism
Give some reasons why racism is
irrational and immoral

Take an Implicit Attitude

Test
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/tak
eatest.html