[Revised entry by Michael James and Adam Burgos on February 2, 2025.
Changes to: Main text, Bibliography]
The concept of race has historically signified the division of humanity into a small number of groups based upon five criteria: (1) Races reflect some type of biological foundation, be it Aristotelian essences or modern genes; (2) This biological foundation generates discrete racial groupings, such that all and only all members of one race share a set of biological characteristics that are not shared by members of other races; (3) This biological foundation is inherited from generation to generation, allowing observers to identify an…

Read the full article which is published on Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (external link)