Multiculturalism
The main idea of multiculturalism is the equal value of all cultures (i.e., cultural relativism). However,
multiculturalism does not mean cultures as normally understood but rather as biologically defined (i.e.,
ethnically, racially, or sexually defined) groups. Multiculturalism, a politicized form of cultural relativism,
rejects the idea that there are general truths, norms, or rules with respect to both knowledge and
morals. Gone are the Enlightenment beliefs in objectivity, reason and evidence, and principles of
freedom and justice that apply equally to all individuals. Unlike cultural relativism, multiculturalism
excludes one worldview from the realm of equally valid worldviews—the Eurocentric Western
perspective based on the contributions of dead white males. Multiculturalists dismiss the significance of
Western civilization by claiming that Western traditions of elitism, racism, and sexism are the cause of
most of our current problems. They accept a Romantic view of human nature as beneficent and benign
until it was corrupted by flawed Western ideology and culture.
Multiculturalism implies that race, ethnicity, and sex (or sexual preference) have an inescapable effect
on the way people think and/or the values they hold or are capable of holding. There are many closed
systems of perception, thought, and feeling each affiliated with some biologically defined group.
Rational dialogue among individuals from different groups is precluded because each group has its own
“truth” and standards for its attainment. The multiculturalist maintains that each person is simply a
representative of a particular biologically defined perspective who must agree with his own group’s
worldview (unless he wants to be ostracized) and thus be unable to rationally discuss and meaningfully
evaluate and critique ideas with representatives of other groups. Multiculturalism thus destroys an
individual’s confidence in his own mind—this occurs when a person allows his group to tell him what to
believe.
At one time, truth was viewed as transcendent, fixed, and unchanging. Epistemological egalitarianism
has accompanied the loss of transcendence. Each group of persons now is thought to have an equal
right to make truth claims. Think of the absurdity in which unreflected upon opinions are weighted
equally with well-thought-out opinions in today’s numerous opinion polls that tend to be tabulated
according to biologically defined categories. Truth is now thought to be a constructed cultural product
that is immanent in each individual culture or subgroup. For the multiculturalist, truth only exists by
consensus within each biologically defined group.
Multiculturalism is anti-individualistic in the sense that it expects each person to agree with the
perceptions, thoughts, and judgments of his group in order for his own perceptions, thoughts, and
judgments to be legitimate. The multiculturalist believes that a person’s thoughts are either the
The main idea of multiculturalism is the equal value of all cultures (i.e., cultural relativism). However,
multiculturalism does not mean cultures as normally understood but rather as biologically defined (i.e.,
ethnically, racially, or sexually defined) groups. Multiculturalism, a politicized form of cultural relativism,
rejects the idea that there are general truths, norms, or rules with respect to both knowledge and
morals. Gone are the Enlightenment beliefs in objectivity, reason and evidence, and principles of
freedom and justice that apply equally to all individuals. Unlike cultural relativism, multiculturalism
excludes one worldview from the realm of equally valid worldviews—the Eurocentric Western
perspective based on the contributions of dead white males. Multiculturalists dismiss the significance of
Western civilization by claiming that Western traditions of elitism, racism, and sexism are the cause of
most of our current problems. They accept a Romantic view of human nature as beneficent and benign
until it was corrupted by flawed Western ideology and culture.
Multiculturalism implies that race, ethnicity, and sex (or sexual preference) have an inescapable effect
on the way people think and/or the values they hold or are capable of holding. There are many closed
systems of perception, thought, and feeling each affiliated with some biologically defined group.
Rational dialogue among individuals from different groups is precluded because each group has its own
“truth” and standards for its attainment. The multiculturalist maintains that each person is simply a
representative of a particular biologically defined perspective who must agree with his own group’s
worldview (unless he wants to be ostracized) and thus be unable to rationally discuss and meaningfully
evaluate and critique ideas with representatives of other groups. Multiculturalism thus destroys an
individual’s confidence in his own mind—this occurs when a person allows his group to tell him what to
believe.
At one time, truth was viewed as transcendent, fixed, and unchanging. Epistemological egalitarianism
has accompanied the loss of transcendence. Each group of persons now is thought to have an equal
right to make truth claims. Think of the absurdity in which unreflected upon opinions are weighted
equally with well-thought-out opinions in today’s numerous opinion polls that tend to be tabulated
according to biologically defined categories. Truth is now thought to be a constructed cultural product
that is immanent in each individual culture or subgroup. For the multiculturalist, truth only exists by
consensus within each biologically defined group.
Multiculturalism is anti-individualistic in the sense that it expects each person to agree with the
perceptions, thoughts, and judgments of his group in order for his own perceptions, thoughts, and
judgments to be legitimate. The multiculturalist believes that a person’s thoughts are either the
