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Full Idea
The fact of pluralism means that the hope of political community must be abandoned, if by such a community we mean a political society united in affirming a general and comprehensive conception of the good.
Gist of Idea
In a pluralist society we can't expect a community united around one conception of the good
Source
John Rawls (The Idea of Overlapping Consensus [1987]), quoted by Will Kymlicka - Community 'legitimacy'
Book Ref
'A Companion to Contemporary Political Phil', ed/tr. Goodin,R.E/Pettit,Philip [Blackwell 1995], p.376
A Reaction
A moderate pluralism might be manageable, but strong, diverse and dogmatic beliefs among sub-groups probably make it impossible.
Related Idea
Idea 23383 Some multiculturalists defended the rights of cohesive minorities against liberal individualism [Kymlicka]
| 22091 | Kierkegaard prioritises the inward individual, rather than community [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle] |
| 22814 | Our reliance on other people close to us does not imply any political obligations [Taylor,C] |
| 23420 | In a pluralist society we can't expect a community united around one conception of the good [Rawls] |
| 23413 | Feminism has shown that social roles are far from fixed (as communitarians tend to see them) [Kymlicka] |
| 23419 | Communitarianism struggles with excluded marginalised groups [Kymlicka] |
| 23415 | Participation aids the quest for the good life, but why should that be a state activity? [Kymlicka] |
| 18657 | Communitarian states only encourage fairly orthodox ideas of the good life [Kymlicka] |
| 22807 | If our values are given to us by society then we have no grounds to criticise them [Avineri/De-Shalit] |
| 22265 | I can't defend the view that the majority values of a community are thereby right [Sandel] |
| 20557 | Membership and inclusion in a community implies non-membership and exclusion [Swift] |
| 20555 | Liberals are concerned to protect individuals from too much community [Swift] |
| 22842 | For communitarians it seems that you must accept the culture you are born into [Charvet] |
| 23536 | Community is now a nostalgic memory, which no longer exists [Berardi] |