In order to ground ethical judgments about race, Zack (Univ. of Oregon) seeks a set of requirements for an "ethics of race." She critically probes the history of philosophical ethics, garnering valuable insights from each historical period and identifying problem areas such as elitism, a lack of a notion of human equality, and an overvaluation of the form of property ownership without regard to what is owned. Zack also argues that philosophical ethics has been limited by its close connection to political theory and ideas of government and that one needs a cosmopolitan view to provide better ethical perspectives on questions of race. Zack makes a valuable distinction between ethics and mores: ethics is a theoretical inquiry neutral of time and place, whereas mores is concretely historical and tied to group practices such as religion, tradition, and family. This important distinction helps readers understand gaps between ethical pronouncements and actual behavior. The author ends with 12 essential requirements for an "ethics of race." This book is significant for advancing contemporary discussions of racial issues. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above; general readers.

Choice Reviews

Naomi Zack's magisterial and monumental work in the ethics of race is an intellectual tour-de-force that takes the reader on an exciting scholarly journey through the history of moral philosophy. Zack is both a philosophical detective combing the history of moral philosophy and a constructive theoretician who in the end give us twelve rich, original, and insightful requirements for an ethics of race.

Jason D. Hill, De Paul University

This lucidly written book emphasizes the important distinction between ethics and mores and demonstrates how dominance of the latter poses challenges for struggles against racism. Arguing for egalitarian humanism, Naomi Zack advances an outline for what she calls “an ethics of race,” a critical position encompassing several considerations for living in a world riddled by a minefield of racial impositions and challenges. The virtues of this book are many. It brings nuance to Zack's nearly two decades of work on problems of race and racism, and it outlines the terrain of ethics and moral philosophy (the normative landscape) in ways accessible to students and thought-provoking for scholars in the fields of ethics, political thought, and critical race theory.

Lewis R. Gordon, professor of philosophy and Africana studies, University of Connecticut

Most books on ethics and race have focused on applied ethics issues, like affirmative action. In this highly original and challenging discussion, Naomi Zack sets out to answer a different and harder question: how to construct an "ethics of race" in the light of the history of ethics in Western philosophy.

Charles Mills, John Evans Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy, Northwestern University