A. Raging debate over multiculturalism permeates nearly every facet of academic endeavor. Political philosophers are as embroiled in these discussions as any others. Theoretical traditions are being reexamined in light of demands for group representation in political participation and resource distribution.
A. Every ethnic group that has migrated to America has found itself denigrated by those already here, and forced to organize itself on group lines by ethnic identification, entering politics to find a way in which to obtain the rights for the group that each as an individual is supposed to have under the Constitution.
A. The liberal emphasis on conditions to examine and pursue one's ends is problematic for three reasons when considering cultural goods.
1. Insistence on a political identity which values basic individual equality and liberty may pose problems for groups whose comprehensive doctrines place more value on a social self.
2. The notion of individual choice assumes that a culture, or parts of it, can be forfeited for something else that is more valuable.
3. The notion of free choice presumes some level of autonomy; it seems to be based on the assumption that people have definite interests of their own that can be clearly delineated from other people's interests.
A. "Assimilation", with its goal of a common civic culture, is more convenient for the needs of democracy than is cultural pluralism, but the cost to the psychological well being of individual citizens is exorbitant.
A. The attack on the politics of universal dignity comes from the minority groups that are demanding recognition within a politics of difference. They want to foster and recognize particularity.
A. Two changes have brought about this need for recognition.
1. The collapse of hierarchies - identity was mostly a person=s place within societ...