Abstract
This paper explores the potential of a contextual approach to multicultural conflict. It reconstructs two cases that were hotly debated in the Netherlands—‘Islamic’ headscarves for police officers and for court officers—and asks whether a ‘contextual’ approach reaches compromises and thus promotes social stability more easily than a ‘deductive’ approach. The argument is that a ‘deductive’ approach accepts standing interpretations of normative principles, whereas a ‘contextual’ approach reinterprets these principles in the light of the circumstances and that, whether or not it promotes social stability, a contextual approach makes us attend to otherwise neglected perspectives and thus yields greater normative insights.
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Verhaar, O., Saharso, S. The Weight of Context: Headscarves in Holland. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 7, 179–195 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ETTA.0000032760.95352.47
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ETTA.0000032760.95352.47