As far as I am aware race meant to be people of a common ancestry. Depending upon with whom you start such a lineage it will include more or less people with more or less similar attributes.
Take a look at the word history. I don't have access to the Oxford English Dictionary right now or I'd cut and paste. If you read 18th and 19th century biology you will see people taking about races of birds, races of reptiles ect.
Originally Posted by ArmouredHedgehog
What makes it confusing is that it has both biological and cultural meanings.
Yes. And I'm saying that fantasy races can help us disentangle those meanings. We should say "this is fantasty, this is reality" Orcs are evil because an evil god enslaved their soul. Their culture is a reflection of Gruumsh' evil. We should leave it that way.
Why doesn't this template apply to real world humans? Humans don't have souls, they just have culture.
