ABSTRACT
The proposition that every complex society contains within itsspatial and its symbolic boundaries different cultural communities is, by now, part of commonsensical understanding. That particular society would not be complex otherwise. In fact, we know of no society that is not marked by a diversity of conceptions of the good. This diversity might well be thin, i.e., confined to lifestyles and preferences. For example, some people eat meat and others are vegetarians; some people are devoted to the pursuit of classical music, others to jazz, and still others to fusion music; some persons plot their day according to astrological predictions and others are rank disbelievers; and some people are teetotallers, while others believe that a bucolic existence is preferable to a life without alcohol.
