Cameron Kirk-Giannini (philosophy of language, philosophy of AI, social philosophy, philosophy of religion), Associate Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University, Newark, has accepted appointment as Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California, effective fall 2027. (Thanks to Samuel Elgin for the pointer to the social media announcement.)
This paper argues that the metaphysics of race requires a diagnostic category that is not exhausted by either biological essentialism or social construction. While race lacks biological essence, it nevertheless remains socially and ontologically operative through the field of human appearing. The central claim is that race is best understood as externalized difference: a relational phenomenon abs…
