Although historians and literary theorists have long participated in discussions about race, it is only recently that philosophers have returned to the topic. The main focus of their attention has been the question of what one means by race now that its biological basis has been discredited, and under what conditions a non-essentialist concept of race can be sustained.
Race provides an introduction to the concept of race within philosophy.
In addition, it moves the debate forward by including new contributions by some of today's leading theorists. Upon marrying Leonard Rhinelander in 1924, Alice Jones, a former nanny, became the first black woman to be listed in the Social Register as a member of one of New York's wealthiest families. Earl Lewis and Heidi Ardizzone tell the story of the marriage and the annulment trial that opened the lives of two vastly different families to the media. Tracking the public obsession with the case, they unfold a fascinating story with a dramatic cast of characters. Much the same thing can be said of social science, despite the vast body of scholarship and writing that purport to deal with issues of race and racism.