Stain Removal

Ethics and Race

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Political, Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Government
Cover of the book Stain Removal by J. Reid Miller, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: J. Reid Miller ISBN: 9780190648305
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: November 1, 2016
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: J. Reid Miller
ISBN: 9780190648305
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: November 1, 2016
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

Martin Luther King, Jr. famously expressed his dream that his children would "one day not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." In his vision, a person's ethical qualities would be understood in spite of his or her body rather than through it. In general, we think that a person's actions should not be judged according to their physical features, such as race. In fact, we see evaluations based on a subject's race or other bodily traits as illegitimate. But Stain Removal argues that our perception of a person's actions always entails judgments of the body. It therefore challenges modern moral theory's premise that a subject's deeds and not its bodily traits count as primary objects of evaluation. Drawing on modern and pre-modern accounts of how ethical knowledge originates, from the Biblical story of Ham, to Socrates, Immanuel Kant, Alain Locke, Frantz Fanon, Langston Hughes, Onora O'Neill, and Louis Althusser, the book suggests that our recognition of both a person and that person's deeds demands an evaluative context. From this it proposes that all perception is "evaluative perception." Through the metaphor of the stain, J. Reid Miller traces the long history of thought suggesting that embodiments like race can and do signify ethical qualities. He argues that these qualities do not "attach" to subjects from the outside-like a stain on innocent and unraced beings-but are instead what allow us to see people as distinct ethical individuals. The objective of ethics, he shows, is not to determine whether race is good or bad but to illustrate how our "unique" personal traits emerge through our multiple relations to others. The consequence is that, contrary to King's vision, it is only through judgments of "skin" and other bodily features that the ethical "content" of subjects can be recognized.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Martin Luther King, Jr. famously expressed his dream that his children would "one day not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." In his vision, a person's ethical qualities would be understood in spite of his or her body rather than through it. In general, we think that a person's actions should not be judged according to their physical features, such as race. In fact, we see evaluations based on a subject's race or other bodily traits as illegitimate. But Stain Removal argues that our perception of a person's actions always entails judgments of the body. It therefore challenges modern moral theory's premise that a subject's deeds and not its bodily traits count as primary objects of evaluation. Drawing on modern and pre-modern accounts of how ethical knowledge originates, from the Biblical story of Ham, to Socrates, Immanuel Kant, Alain Locke, Frantz Fanon, Langston Hughes, Onora O'Neill, and Louis Althusser, the book suggests that our recognition of both a person and that person's deeds demands an evaluative context. From this it proposes that all perception is "evaluative perception." Through the metaphor of the stain, J. Reid Miller traces the long history of thought suggesting that embodiments like race can and do signify ethical qualities. He argues that these qualities do not "attach" to subjects from the outside-like a stain on innocent and unraced beings-but are instead what allow us to see people as distinct ethical individuals. The objective of ethics, he shows, is not to determine whether race is good or bad but to illustrate how our "unique" personal traits emerge through our multiple relations to others. The consequence is that, contrary to King's vision, it is only through judgments of "skin" and other bodily features that the ethical "content" of subjects can be recognized.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book The Americas' First Theologies by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book Teaching Buddhism by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book The Addis Ababa Massacre by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book Civic Activism Unleashed by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of the Political Economy of International Trade by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book Teaching Music to Students with Autism by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book Rethinking Reich by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book A Century of Miracles by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book Neuropsychological Aspects of Substance Use Disorders by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book The Moral Dimensions of Human Rights by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book The Atlantic in World History by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book Constitutional Limits on Coercive Interrogation by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book Clients and Constituents by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book Heroic Bodies in Ancient Israel by J. Reid Miller
Cover of the book El Libertador:Writings of Simon Bolivar by J. Reid Miller
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy