(Re-)Defining Racism

What is racism? is a timely question that is hotly contested in the philosophy of race. Yet disagreement about racismΓÇÖs nature does not begin in philosophy, but in the sociopolitical domain. Alberto G. Urquidez argues that philosophers of race have failed to pay sufficient attention to the practical considerations that prompt the question ΓÇ£What is racism?ΓÇ¥ Most theorists assume that ΓÇ£racismΓÇ¥ signifies a language-independent phenomenon that needs to be ΓÇ£discoveredΓÇ¥ by the relevant science or ΓÇ£uncoveredΓÇ¥ by close scrutiny of everyday usage of this term. (Re-)Defining Racism challenges this metaphysical paradigm. Urquidez develops a Wittgenstein-inspired framework that illuminates the use of terms like ΓÇ£definition,ΓÇ¥ ΓÇ£meaning,ΓÇ¥ ΓÇ£explanation of meaning,ΓÇ¥ and ΓÇ£disagreement,ΓÇ¥ for the analysis of contested normative concepts. These elucidations reveal that providing a definition of ΓÇ£racismΓÇ¥ amounts to recommending a form of moral representationΓÇöa rule for the correct use of ΓÇ£racism.ΓÇ¥ As definitional recommendations must be justified on pragmatic grounds, Urquidez takes as a starting point for justification the interests of racism''s historical victims.