Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Diversity: Diversity is the presence of differences within a group of people. It can be based on a variety of factors, such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, socioeconomic status, and disability.
Diversity is important because it allows us to learn from and appreciate different perspectives and experiences. See also Community, Society._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Fred D’Agostino on Diversity (Politics) - Dictionary of Arguments
Gaus I 239 Diversity/pluralism/D’Agostino: it will be useful, at the outset, to distinguish the fact of diversity from the thesis of pluralism, or, more accurately, from various pluralist doctrines and arguments. The fact of diversity is evident everywhere in our social worlds. Individuals express different preferences, perhaps even different 'reflective' (i.e. well-informed, carefully considered and suitably 'impartial') judgements, when it comes to the ways in which their personal and collective lives are to be organized. Principles/Rawls: of particular political relevance, as John Rawls recognized, is the fact that people 'disagree about which principles should define the basic terms of their association' (1973(1): 5). Concepts/meaning/Walzer: Different standards for the assessment of options are current in different social domains as well (Walzer, 1983(2)), meaning, inter alia, that even a given individual's attitudes may not be stable across those domains in which she may have occasion to enact roles. Ethics/Nagel: of particular political relevance is the fact, as Thomas Nagel noted, that '[c]onflicts between personal and impersonal [ethical] claims are ubiquitous' and cannot 'be resolved by subsuming either of the points of view under the other, or both under a third' (1979(3): 134). Problems: E.g., suppose that A prefers X to Y and that B prefers Y to X, but that A and B must make a collectively binding choice between these two options. Or consider what might happen if A, perhaps acting as an agent for some collectivity, finds himself in a situation in which, according to one criterion relevant to his choice, X is preferable to Y, whereas, according to another such criterion, also relevant, Y is preferable to X. Tragic dilemma/Nozick/Benn/Nussbaum: In some cases, as when the choice-relevant criteria are from different domains and are constituted as 'side-constraints' on action (Nozick, 1974)(4) rather than as values to be maximized subject to 'trade-offs', A may face a 'tragic dilemma', of the kind analysed by theorists such as Stanley Benn (1988)(5) and Martha Nussbaum (1986)(6). Cf. >Conflicts/Tetlock, Gaus I 240 Diversity/Pluralism/D’Agostino: Diversity, then, is a familiar phenomenon, of some potential relevance to political theory and practice. Pluralism, on the other hand, is embodied in theses and arguments about this phenomenon. >Pluralism/D’Agostino. 1. Rawls, John (1973) A Theory of Justice. Oxford: Oxford Umversity Press. 2. Walzer, Michael (1983) Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality. Oxford: Blackwell. 3. Nagel, Thomas (1979) 'The fragmentation of value'. In Alan Ryan, ed., The Idea of Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 4. Nozick, Robert (1974) Anarchy, State and Utopia. Oxford: Blackwell. 5. Benn, Stanley (1988) A Theory of Freedom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 6. Nussbaum, Martha (1986) The Fragility of Goodness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. D’Agostino, Fred 2004. „Pluralism and Liberalism“. In: Gaus, Gerald F. & Kukathas, Chandran 2004. Handbook of Political Theory. SAGE Publications_____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
D’Agostino, Fred Gaus I Gerald F. Gaus Chandran Kukathas Handbook of Political Theory London 2004 |
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> Counter arguments against D’Agostino
> Counter arguments in relation to Diversity (Politics)
