Ethical, Political, and Cultural Theories: Key Concepts and Definitions

Political Liberalism

A political philosophy that grounds the authority of the state in principles that all reasonable citizens can accept, regardless of their comprehensive moral or religious doctrines.

Virtue Ethics

An ethical theory focused on character and virtue rather than rules or consequences; asks "what kind of person should I be?"

Utilitarianism

An ethical theory holding that the right action is the one that maximizes overall happiness or utility for the greatest number.

Deontological Ethics

An ethical theory that judges the morality of an action based on adherence to rules or duties, regardless of consequences (e.g., Kant's categorical imperative).

Divine Command Theory

The view that moral obligations are determined by God's commands; an action is right because God commands it.

Cultural Relativism

The view that moral standards are not universal but are relative to cultural context; what is right or wrong depends on one's culture.

Moral Monism / Moral Universalism

The view that there is a single, universal moral framework applicable to all people across all cultures — the view Parekh critiques.

Social Contract

A theory that the legitimacy of political authority derives from an (actual or hypothetical) agreement among individuals to form a society.

Ethnicity

A social group identity based on shared cultural practices, ancestry, language, history, and traditions. Nash identifies index features and boundary mechanisms as key components.

Index Features

Nash's term for the cultural markers (language, religion, customs) that identify a group's ethnicity — the content that fills the ethnic container.

Boundary Mechanisms

Nash's term for the social processes that define who is in vs. out of an ethnic group — the borders that separate one group from another.

Race

A contested concept. Criticized as lacking scientific validity as a descriptive concept; recommended to be treated as a social/cultural construct rather than a biological category.

Natural (Human) Rights

Rights that all persons possess by virtue of being human, independent of law or government (e.g., life, liberty).

Civil / Legal Rights

Rights granted by a political system or legal code, enforceable by law.

Contractual Rights

Rights that arise from agreements between parties.

Rawls's Two Principles of Justice

(1) Equal basic liberties for all; (2) Social and economic inequalities are only justified if they benefit the least advantaged members of society (the difference principle).

Normative / Prescriptive / Evaluative

Pertaining to standards of what ought to be — how things should be evaluated or judged, rather than merely described.

Ontological

Pertaining to the nature of being or existence — what kinds of things exist and what their fundamental characteristics are.

Epistemological

Pertaining to the nature and limits of knowledge — how we know what we know.

Emic

An insider's perspective on a culture — studying or describing a culture from the viewpoint of its own members.

Societal Culture

Kymlicka's term for a territorially concentrated culture with a shared language used across a full range of social institutions (government, economy, education).

The Other

A term used to refer to someone or something different/separated from a reference point. Used in postcolonial theory to describe how dominant cultures define minority groups.

Jurisprudence

The philosophy of law — its interpretation, analysis, and application, including religious law.

Separatism

Keeping minority groups within one political structure separate from each other. When externally imposed, typically aims to maintain majority group supremacy.

Assimilationism

The view that cultural differences should be broken down into a homogenized whole ("melting pot" approach). Cultural differences are absorbed into the dominant culture.

Pluralism

Attempts to respect and preserve differing practices while finding shared principles for a good life. Requires: (1) minimal common conditions for a good life, (2) groups may maintain distinct identities not conflicting with those conditions, (3) identity comes from both.

Cosmopolitanism

Wealthy nations able to ease suffering of the world's poor have a moral obligation to do so as strong as their obligation to their own citizens — essentially supports open borders.

Anti-Cosmopolitanism

Wealthy nations have an obligation to help poor nations, but their moral obligation to their own citizens may be weightier than to non-citizens — closed borders can be justified.

Isolationism

Nations (wealthy or poor) have obligations only to their own citizens — no obligations to non-citizens.

A priori

Knowledge or justification that is independent of experience — known through reason alone (e.g., mathematical truths).

A posteriori

Knowledge or justification that depends on sensory experience or empirical evidence.

Hate Crime

A criminal offense motivated (in whole or part) by bias against the victim's membership in a protected social group (race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.).

Associations (Social Group type)

Groups with shared aims, purposes, and ends — e.g., churches, families, clubs. Members join based on common goals.

Cultural / Identity Groups (Social Group type)

Groups in which members construct identity and self-understanding at a basic level — sharing tradition, history, language, and social practices.

Structural Groups (Social Group type)

Groups whose members' access to fundamental goods and resources is determined by society's basic social structure (via authority, power, labor, production, desire/sexuality, prestige).

Oppressed Groups

Structural groups whose members are systematically disadvantaged in access to basic goods needed for self-expression, self-development, and self-determination. Not all members necessarily suffer, but all are equally vulnerable.

Distributive Justice

Principles specifying the just distribution of benefits and burdens (rights, resources, privileges, responsibilities) — the outcome in which everyone receives their due.

Retributive (Rectificatory) Justice

Seeking to balance an injustice by rectifying the situation or regaining an equality that was overturned — "balancing out" the moral order after an offense.