ABSTRACT
The Phylogenetic Race Concept (PRC) outlined in this paper brings the best practices of systematic biology to bear on the question of human races. Five advantages of the PRC are explored. They are: (1) The PRC shows why the question of the biological reality of race is difficult and it gives an appropriately nuanced answer to that question; (2) The fundamental theory of phylogenetic classification shows that how we rank monophyletic groups (as race, species, genus, etc.) has a conventional component to it. This conventionalism allows for the consideration of social and political issues in questions of race; (3) Phylogenetic races are historical entities, just the right sort of thing for questions of reparative justice; (4) Phylogenetic races as historical entities also seem better suited as objects of racial identity and pride than other biological approaches; and (5) The phylogenetic approach to race is anti-essentialistic and in fact wears its anti-essentialism on its sleeve.
