| | | In this paper, I address the liberal dilemmas of value pluralism. The
liberalism in question is associated with recognition of a plurality of
ways of life that in some sense are equally justifiable or worthy of being
chosen. Among those ways of life, hopefully, one finds one's own way of
life. As a liberal, one aims to continue one's commitment to that particular
way of life and yet on the recognition that other ways of life are no
less justifiable or worthy of being chosen. The dilemmas of value pluralism
concern the tension involved in trying to do both these things at the
same time. Reflection on the Chinese philosophers Hsün Tzu and Chuang
Tzu leads me to propose an understanding of why pluralism poses less of
a difficulty for doing both these things at the same time. |