Crossword clues for pluralism
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pluralism \Plu"ral*ism\, n.
The quality or state of being plural, or in the plural number.
(Eccl.) The state of a pluralist; the holding of more than one ecclesiastical living at a time. [Eng.]
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1818, as a term in church administration, from plural + -ism. Attested from 1882 as a term in philosophy for a theory which recognizes more than one ultimate principle. In political science, attested from 1919 (in Harold J. Laski) in sense "theory which opposes monolithic state power." General sense of "toleration of diversity within a society or state" is from 1933. Related: Pluralist (1620s, in the church sense); pluralistic.
Wiktionary
n. 1 The quality or state of being plural, or in the plural number. 2 (context ecclesiastical English) The state of a pluralist; the holding of more than one ecclesiastical living at a time. 3 (context social science English) A social system based on mutual respect for each other's cultures among various groups that make up a society, wherein subordinate groups do not have to forsake their lifestyle and traditions but, rather, can express their culture and participate in the larger society free of prejudice.
WordNet
n. the doctrine that reality consists of several basic substances or elements
Wikipedia
Pluralism as a political philosophy is the recognition and affirmation of diversity within a political body, which permits the peaceful coexistence of different interests, convictions and lifestyles. Political pluralists are not inherently socialists (who put equality as their guiding principle), liberals (who place liberty as their guiding principle) or conservatives (who place tradition as their guiding principle) but advocate a form of political moderation. Nor are political pluralists necessarily advocates of a democratic plurality, but generally agree that this form of government is often best at moderating discrete values.
As put by arch-pluralist Isaiah Berlin, "[l]et us have the courage of our admitted ignorance, of our doubts and uncertainties. At least we can try to discover what others […] require, by […] making it possible for ourselves to know men as they truly are, by listening to them carefully and sympathetically, and understanding them and their lives and their needs…." Pluralism thus tries to encourage members of society to accommodate their differences by avoiding absolutism (adhering solely to one value, or at the very least refusing to recognize others as legitimate) and engaging in good faith dialogue. Pluralists also seek the construction or reform of social institutions in order to reflect and balance competing principles. One of the more famous arguments for institutional pluralism came from James Madison in The Federalist paper Number 10. Madison feared that factionalism would lead to in-fighting in the new American republic and devotes this paper to questioning how best to avoid such an occurrence. He posits that to avoid factionalism, it is best to allow many competing factions (advocating different primary principles) to prevent any one from dominating the political system. This relies, to a degree, on a series of disturbances changing the influences of groups so as to avoid institutional dominance and ensure competition. Like Edmund Burke, this view concerns itself with balance, and subordinating any single abstract principle to a plurality or realistic harmony of interests.
Of course, pluralism recognizes that certain conditions may make good faith negotiation impossible, and therefore also focuses on what institutional structures can best modify or prevent such a situation. Pluralism advocates institutional design in keeping with a form of pragmatic realism here, with the preliminary adoption of suitable existing socio-historical structures where necessary.
Pluralism is a term used in philosophy, meaning "doctrine of multiplicity", often used in opposition to monism ("doctrine of unity") and dualism ("doctrine of duality"). The term has different meanings in metaphysics, ontology, epistemology and logic.
In metaphysics, pluralism is a doctrine that there is more than one reality, while realism holds that there is but one reality, that may have single objective ontology or plural ontology. In one form, it is a doctrine that many substances exist, in contrast with monism which holds existence to be a single substance, often either matter ( materialism) or mind ( idealism), and dualism believes two substances, such as matter and mind, to be necessary.
In ontology, pluralism refers to different ways, kinds, or modes of being. For example, a topic in ontological pluralism is the comparison of the modes of existence of things like 'humans' and 'cars' with things like 'numbers' and some other concepts as they are used in science.
In epistemology, pluralism is the position that there is not one consistent means of approaching truths about the world, but rather many. Often this is associated with pragmatism, or conceptual, contextual, or cultural relativism.
In logic, pluralism is the view that there is no one correct logic, or alternatively, that there is more than one correct logic. One may, for instance, believe that classical logic is the correct logic generally, but believe that paraconsistent logic is the correct logic for dealing with certain paradoxes. However, there are different versions of logical pluralism depending on what one believes 'logic' to be and what it means for a logical system to be 'correct'.
Pluralism is used in different ways across a wide range of topics. It denotes a diversity of views and stands rather than a single approach or method of interpretation:
- Accelerated pluralism, a form of rapid mobilization that occurs in new social movements
- Benefice#Pluralism, a situation in the sense of holding multiple ecclesiastical offices
- Clinical pluralism, an approach to psychotherapy accommodating differences in belief
- Cosmic pluralism, the belief in numerous other worlds beyond the Earth, which may possess the conditions suitable for life
- Cultural pluralism, when small groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities (see Multiculturalism)
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Legal pluralism, acknowledges the existence of differing legal systems in the world
- Journal of Legal Pluralism, a peer-reviewed academic journal that focuses on legal pluralism
- Methodological pluralism, the view that some phenomena observed in science and social science require multiple methods to account for their nature
- Pluralism (industrial relations), recognition of a multiplicity of legitimate interests and stakeholders in the employment relationship
- Pluralism (political philosophy), the acknowledgment of a diversity of political systems
- Pluralism (political theory), belief that there should be diverse and competing centres of power in society, so that there is a marketplace for ideas
- Religious pluralism, the acceptance of all religious paths as equally valid, promoting coexistence
- Scientific pluralism, the view that some phenomena observed in science require multiple explanations to account for their nature
- Structural pluralism, a concept used to examine the way in which societies are structured
Classical pluralism is the view that politics and decision making are located mostly in the framework of government, but that many non-governmental groups use their resources to exert influence. The central question for classical pluralism is how power and influence are distributed in a political process. Groups of individuals try to maximize their interests. Lines of conflict are multiple and shifting as power is a continuous bargaining process between competing groups. There may be inequalities but they tend to be distributed and evened out by the various forms and distributions of resources throughout a population. Any change under this view will be slow and incremental, as groups have different interests and may act as "veto groups" to destroy legislation. The existence of diverse and competing interests is the basis for a democratic equilibrium, and is crucial for the obtaining of goals by individuals. A polyarchy—a situation of open competition for electoral support within a significant part of the adult population—ensures competition of group interests and relative equality. Pluralists stress civil rights, such as freedom of expression and organization, and an electoral system with at least two parties. On the other hand, since the participants in this process constitute only a tiny fraction of the populace, the public acts mainly as bystanders. This is not necessarily undesirable for two reasons: (1) it may be representative of a population content with the political happenings, or (2) political issues require continuous and expert attention, which the average citizen may not have.
Important theorists of pluralism include Robert A. Dahl (who wrote the seminal pluralist work, Who Governs?) and Seymour Martin Lipset.
Usage examples of "pluralism".
Not only is modernity not devoid of the Goddess, her Goodness and Agape and Compassion are written all over it, with its radically new and emergent stance of worldcentric pluralism, universal benevolence, and multicultural tolerance, something that no horticultural society could even conceive, let alone implement.
This total revolution marked the victory of democracy over aristocracy, parliamentarism over the State, mass over quality, Reason over Faith, equality-ideals over organic hierarchy, of Money over Blood, of Liberalism, pluralism, free capitalism, and criticism over the organic forces of Tradition, State and Authority, and in one word, of Civilization over Culture.
He must do this, because if he admits that a world-centric, global perspectivism has adaptive advantage over narrower perspectives, then he must admit that his cultural stance of universal-global perspectivism is superior to those cultures that he studies that do not share his universal pluralism.
From world-centric pluralism to divine egoism and biocentric sensory immersionat one with sentimental nature in my own self-reverberating feelingsthis was the other endgame of flatland holism, a morbid embrace driven by a Thanatos that, in the way of all deception, whispered always of the wonders of ever-shallower engagements.
In other words, and I intend to emphasize this heavily, centauric vision-logic can integrate physiosphere, biosphere, and noosphere in its own compound individuality (and this is, as I suggested in chapter 5, the next major stage of leading-edge global transformation, even though most of the "work yet to be done" is still getting the globe up to decentered universal-rational pluralism in the first place).
To the extent the ego lived up to its rational potential, that mature ego was worldcentrica decentered view of universal pluralism.
The very pervasiveness of Christmas and the deep resentment felt by many—perhaps most—Americans about the seemingly absurd finickiness of the courts in their effort to keep government bodies from promoting Christian Christmas rituals show that pluralism does not come easily or naturally even to a people with a two-century history of commitment to it.
Mammal as paranoid grandee of the grassy plains, that (limbic) region of emotional disorganization, falling sickness, psychosomatic choking, another way of saying terror of the veldt, he thought, which is fear not really of lurkers in long grass but of the veldt itself, its terrifying endlessness, its obliteration of both singularity and pluralism, its lack of soul-cozying nooks, its tendency to disappear into itself, leaving us, he thought, with the geometry, music and poetry of our evolved, cross-referencing and highly specialized outer layer of gray tissue (cerebral cortex), not to mention celestial mechanics, medicine, the research and development of wars, not to mention voiceless cries in the night, utterly neomammalian this last activity, a cortical subclass of fear itself itself itself, thought Jean at her typewriter, staring at page twenty, numbered but otherwise blank, and wondering what it would take to "remember through"
That this correspondence (which may be merely verbal) is ground for synthesis seems doubtful: the position of the old Lykeionian Sub-Department of Dairy Husbandry may, it is true, be assigned with equal justice either to Negative Valuational Monism or to Negative-Superlative Disquiparent Pluralism.