Multiculturalism多元文化.pdfVIP

Ratio Juris. Vol. 11 No. 3 September 1998 (193–205) Multiculturalism* JOSEPH RAZ Abstract. In rejecting the liberal claim to the universality of morals, some contemporary philosophers insist on the danger of reducing the human being to an abstraction. This paper goes beyond this debate. The theoretical core of multiculturalism is the recog- nition that these universalistic claims can be realised in different ways in different cultures, so as to require a re-conception of the liberal thesis of the well-being and dignity of people. This interpretation of morality cannot be understood within the ideology of nationalism. Replacing nationalism as the common bond of society is thus one of the main political challenges facing multiculturalism. However, any specific policy must presuppose a new social sensitivity: Societies are not made up of majorities and minorities, but of a plurality of cultural groups. This is why the notion of toleration is not enough.** 1. You will remember the dark and haunting music introducing us to the dungeon where Florestan is languishing. When Leonore first sees him she is unnerved by her inability to recognise him. Her doubt persists, but after a couple of minutes it no longer troubles her: Wer du auch seist, ich will dich retten Bei Gott, du sollst kein Opfer sein! Gewiß, ich löse deine Ketten, Ich will, du Armer, dich befrein. (Sonnleithner and Treitschke 1995, 115)1 In those few minutes Leonore turned from a devoted wife struggling to save her husband to a moral volunteer sharing in the struggle of the oppressed * This is the text of a talk given at the University of Bremen 1997. The place and occasion explain its emphasis on the way recent waves of immigration affect the problems of multiculturalism, and the fact that it does not deal with the problem as it exists where different cultural or national groups enjoy long standing dominance in certa