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What can philosophy tell us about race?
Categorising human beings into races has had, and continues to have, an enormous impact on people’s lives. Many societies have been shaped by racial divisions and racial discrimination. Race continues to affect people’s experiences and personal identities today. This free course, What can philosophy tell us about race?, will introduce you to debates about the fundamental nature of race and racism, and encourage you to explore the ways in which philosophy matters for understanding the world around us.
This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course DA223 Investigating philosophy.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- understand some of the questions philosophers of race investigate
- begin to evaluate the position that race is about ancestry and the position that race is about power
- understand why different definitions of 'racism' affect how people identify and respond to racism
- assess arguments for and against the moral acceptability of racial fetishes.
First Published: 25/02/2025
Updated: 25/02/2025
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