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From Cultural Diversity to Universal Ethics: Three Models

Williams College, Williamstown, USA

In this article the author lays out and discusses three different models for arriving at universal agreement in ethics. The author argues that the 'human rights model'--the model by which international human rights instruments get produced--has some serious flaws. The second model is the 'necessary conditions model'. It enables us to arrive at a significant but still too thin universal ethic. The author presents a case for the 'cultural dialogue model' in which members of one culture undertake a piecemeal search in the texts and way of life of other cultures, for beliefs, practices, etc. resembling their own. In this model cross-cultural disagreement is acknowledged, but the appropriate kind of room is left open to work towards thicker cross-cultural agreement.

Key Words: culture • ethics • human rights • universal ethic

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