Defending Diversity: Contemporary Philosophical Perspectives on Pluralism and Multiculturalism - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0870239112 ISBN 13: 9780870239113

Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press, 1994

Synopsis

In recent years the implications of "multiculturalism" for American society have been the subject of much debate. To some, the term has come to denote the fragmentation of tradition and the coherent values that derive from it. To others, it signals the advent of a more inclusive, tolerant, and genuinely democratic society. Drawing on philosophy's longstanding concern with issues of pluralism and relativism, on the traditions of American pragmatism, and on modern theoretical innovations, the essays in this volume bring clarity to this discussion by analyzing the underlying values and assumptions of each side. They present a varied, insightful, and well-reasoned defense of the virtues of diversity, outside as well as inside the walls of the academy.

About this title

About the Author

Foster, who has a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania, is the chairman of the Philosophy Department at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

From Library Journal

The last three decades have seen wide-ranging changes in the structure of Western societies, particularly with the influx of individuals from a diversity of non-Western cultures. The ten essays collected here, three of which have been published elsewhere (none earlier than 1991), provide a good cross section of philosophical thinking on current issues in multiculturalism. David Wong's lead essay, "Coping with Moral Conflict and Ambiguity," addresses the philosophical questions of how we accommodate moral differences. Dovetailing nicely with Wong's work is Mitchell Silver's essay on irreconcilable moral disagreement. Other papers cover such topics as justice and multiculturalism and how educational programs might be modified to reflect the multicultural nature of society. A valuable contribution to the analysis of questions of multiculturalism; recommended for academic and larger public libraries.
Terry Skeats, Bishop's Univ. Lib., Lennoxville, Quebec
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0870239112
• ISBN 13: 9780870239113
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240
• Editor: Foster Lawrence