Search

Marion Godman's book, "The Epistemology and Morality of Human Kinds," explores the concept of human kinds as historical kinds. The book argues that certain categories of human classification can be understood as objectively real kinds, with shared features due to their shared causal lineages. Godman critiques alternative approaches to human kinds and develops the idea that viewing human kinds as historical kinds allows for common cause explanations and grounds multiple projectability. The book applies this historical kind account to genders, religions, and ethnicities, showing their normative significance. While the book has some flaws, it is an insightful contribution to the debates surrounding human kinds. [Extracted from the article]