In this talk, I identify and clarify a metaphysical phenomenon that’s almost twenty years old. The phenomenon is that the populations at a fivefold subdivision of humans into biological populations—the so-called human continental populations—correspond one-to-one with the five official races of the Office of Management and Budget in the US government. This phenomenon has raised the interesting philosophical question of what exactly is the metaphysical relation being exemplified by this particular mapping. Metaphysicians of race have offered multiple different theories to explain the mapping. In the talk, I’ll discuss theories from Levin, Ásta, Hardimon, and Taylor. However, I’ll argue that the metaphysical relation that’s exemplified by this mapping is identity. After presenting and defending the identity thesis, I explore interesting implications of the identity thesis for the metaphysics of race and NIH-funded clinical research. 

Quayshawn Spencer is the Robert S. Blank Presidential Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, where he specializes in philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, and philosophy of race. Spencer holds a Ph.D. in philosophy and an M.S. in biology from Stanford University, as well as a B.A. in chemistry and philosophy from Cornell University.