The backdrop against which this paper situates its main theme is the multicultural society. Multiculturalness has become a fact of life, one with which one will have to reckon. The possibility of a multicultural society is ‘proven’ at every corner of our streets where mosques are opened, hindu temples built, also whenever in our class rooms we meet with non-white, non-Christian students — which in my own situation happens more and more. However, there is more to it than mere facts. (...) These days one often hears appeals for a new attitude, a new ethos. The new ethos, it is often said, needs to be geared to and affirm the facts of the multicultural society. For convenience’s sake I shall call this ethos: a pluralist ethos. The problem that this contribution wants to pose is whether such a pluralist ethos is possible. (shrink)