Universalism

For many years, moral philosophy has been dominated by universalist and particularist ideas, both of which offer some important insights into social relationships of all kinds. Universalism is best summarized by the image of the American "melting pot," which suggests that over time, individuals in a multicultural society tend to share more values, beliefs, and behaviors than not. Ethnocentrism, in contrast, is understood as a particularist view in which differences rather than similarities are valued. It is also important to understand that universal moralism proposes that there are certain behaviors that are always and everywhere morally acceptable or unacceptable whereas particularism and ethnocentrism suggest that there are other actions or attitudes that are valid only within the context of a specific culture.

This research report will argue that in some cultures, there is a link between universalistic perspectives on moral issues and ethnocentrism. This is because what becomes a universal belief or value in a culture tends to represent the views of the majority group within that culture. Majority groups will be shown to be essentially ethnocentric and likely to impose their views on all subgroups within society.

Ernesto Laclau discusses universalism and suggests that universalism is best understood as the effort of a majority or elite to impose via hegemony, its own vi

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example of this practice is provided by Narayan with respect to British imperialism and its imputation of "spiritualism to Indian culture to suggest lack of readiness for this-worldly projection of self-rule." Writing about racial relationships, Paul Gilroy stated that the concept of race itself is an obstacle to human liberation. Racism is an extreme form of ethnocentrism which asserts that one race is inherently superior to another and that the inferior race must make all efforts needed to become more like the superior race. What Gilroy says is t hat "the only appropriate response is to demand liberation not from white supremacy alone, however urgently that is required, but from all racializing and raciological thought from racialized seeing, racialized thinking, and racialized thinking about thinking." Gilroy's argument is that a certain type of ethnocentrism promoted by whites has taken on universalist significance to the detriment of black ethnicity and black identity. At the same time, Gilroy cautions against black nationalism and black ethnocentrism and argues that what is needed is "the political will to liberate humankind from race-thinking." This example illustrates the conflict between certain types of eth
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Approximate Word count = 1820
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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