Ethical Challenges of Authority in a Pluralistic Society

Ethical Challenges of Authority in a Pluralistic Society PDF

Author: Josephat Okanumee Nwankwo

Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13:

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Pluralism is more than difference in behavioral patterns. It is a fundamental difference in worldviews, and Nigeria typifies it. It implies that autonomous individuals within a societal continuum do not constitute an integral amalgamation of a body-politic. A multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual blend, Nigeria serves as a good laboratory for pluralist test. What Nigeria needs is authority in order to articulate these plural and conflicting world-views into a reasonable discourse or committed dialogue. It is then the challenge of authority in Nigeria to reconcile the apparent incompatibilities within the multiple groups into a reasonable consensus. Plagued with the pathological equivocations of human rights, incessant military coups and counter-coups, vicious ethnic discrimination and lack of regard for meritocracy, Nigeria stands as a classical example of a leaderless society. Derided by foes as a political patchwork, and portrayed by friends as a potential volcano, all that Nigeria needs is authority that can articulate her numerous but diversified potentials into a catalyst for human development. No sustainable political or social foundations could be laid in the absence of this desideratum.

Towards an Ethics of Community

Towards an Ethics of Community PDF

Author: James Olthuis

Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press

Published: 2000-02-25

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0889203393

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How do we deal with difference personally, interpersonally, nationally? Can we weave a cohesive social fabric in a religiously plural society without suppressing differences? This collection of significant essays suggests that to truly honour differences in matters of faith and religion we must publicly exercise and celebrate them. The secular/sacred, public/private divisions long considered sacred in the West need to be dismantled if Canada (or any nation state) is to develop a genuine mosaic that embraces fundamental differences instead of a melting pot that marginalizes. An ethics of difference starts with a recognition of difference, not as deviance or deficit that threatens but as otherness to connect with, cherish, and celebrate. The book begins with the suggestion that our inability to come to terms with social plurality is not fundamentally the fault of religious differences, and that a public/private split inadequately deals with matters of basic difference. It then explores how encouraging people to live out their respective faiths may open new possibilities for respectful, honourable, and just negotiations of contemporary dilemmas arising out of the multicultural fabric of Canadian life. Towards an Ethics of Community introduces readers to some of the most challenging and divisive dilemmas we face in this increasingly pluralistic, postmodern world — issues such as family and domestic violence, Aboriginal rights, homosexuality and public policy, and female genital mutilation. This is a book truly global in scope and significance.

Civil Disagreement

Civil Disagreement PDF

Author: Edward Langerak

Publisher: Georgetown University Press

Published: 2014-03-11

Total Pages: 181

ISBN-13: 1626160341

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How can we agree to disagree in today’s pluralistic society, one in which individuals and groups are becoming increasingly polarized by fierce convictions that are often at odds with the ideas of others? Civil Disagreement: Personal Integrity in a Pluralistic Society shows how we can cope with diversity and be appropriately open toward opponents even while staying true to our convictions. This accessible and useful guide discusses how our conversations and arguments can respect differences and maintain personal integrity and civility even while taking stances on disputed issues. The author examines an array of illustrative cases, such as debates over slavery, gay marriage, compulsory education for the Amish, and others, providing helpful insights on how to take firm stands without denigrating opponents. The author proposes an approach called “perspective pluralism” that honors the integrity of various viewpoints while avoiding the implication that all reasonable views are equally acceptable or true. Civil Disagreement offers a concise yet comprehensive guide for students and scholars of philosophical or religious ethics, political or social philosophy, and political science, as well as general readers who are concerned about the polarization that often seems to paralyze national and international politics.

The Challenge of Pluralism

The Challenge of Pluralism PDF

Author: F. Clark Power

Publisher: Notre Dame, Ind. : University of Notre Dame Press

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13:

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The politics of pluralism has long been an intractable characteristic of American public education. Today, perhaps more so than ever, educators grapple with an awareness of the fact that liberal societies cannot promote a particular vision of the moral life and still respect and uphold the multi-cultural values of a pluralistic society. The Challenge of Pluralism examines the problematic issue of the role of moral education in a pluralistic society. The book takes an interdisciplinary focus, and contributors include well-known experts in such fields as psychology, educational policy studies, history of education, political history, curriculum, philosophy of education, theology, and gender studies. The essays delve into the myriad reasons for the moral education controversy and examine how the contemporary debate over the place of moral education in a pluralist society takes place within the larger context of the current arguments over the quality of American education. In addition to a historical examination of the values-pluralism issue, the volume offers critiques of specific educational regimens as they address the problem of moral education. This volume offers relevant, pertinent discussions that will benefit professional educators, social scientists, and any individual concerned about the quality of American education and its ability to provide adequate moral and values education. Contributors: Walter Nicgorski, Michael W. Apple, Rev. Michael Himes, Dwight Boyd, Ronnie A. F. Blakeney, Charles D. Blakeney, Daniel K. Lapsley, William Reese, Michael R. Olneck, Ann Diller, James W. Fowler, and F. Clark Power.

The Morality of Pluralism

The Morality of Pluralism PDF

Author: John Kekes

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 1996-03-04

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 140082110X

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Controversies about abortion, the environment, pornography, AIDS, and similar issues naturally lead to the question of whether there are any values that can be ultimately justified, or whether values are simply conventional. John Kekes argues that the present moral and political uncertainties are due to a deep change in our society from a dogmatic to a pluralistic view of values. Dogmatism is committed to there being only one justifiable system of values. Pluralism recognizes many such systems, and yet it avoids a chaotic relativism according to which all values are in the end arbitrary. Maintaining that good lives must be reasonable, but denying that they must conform to one true pattern, Kekes develops and justifies a pluralistic account of good lives and values, and works out its political, moral, and personal implications.

Virtue Ethics

Virtue Ethics PDF

Author: Christine Swanton

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 0199253889

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Major concerns of modern ethical theory are addressed from a character-based perspective in this new, comprehensive theory of virtue ethics.