ABSTRACT
Utilitarianism is an ethical standpoint that typically inspires either strong devotion or intense dislike among philosophers. While utilitarians differ widely on theoretical details, they tend to agree on what sorts of activities utilitarianism should require and what kinds of policies and behaviors it should prohibit. It is common for utilitarians to claim that their view strongly supports progressive policies. While its detractors think that utilitarianism leaves important moral considerations out of account, its supporters maintain that it clarifies, simplifies and unifies moral thinking. This is one good reason to apply utilitarian thinking to the issue of religious diversity, which raises numerous problems within the context of a pluralistic democracy. In this chapter I address how utilitarians might treat the issues raised in general by multiculturalism and by multicultural religious diversity in particular. I shall take as my starting point not an ideal world but the actual conditions we currently find around us, namely many instances of differently organized pluralistic cultures with significant religious disagreements and antagonisms. Given this starting point, I shall emphasize the many virtues a utilitarian perspective on multiculturalism affords, and argue that a utilitarian perspective on multiculturalism is an essential component for achieving significant moral progress.
