Date of Award

2012

Degree Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Religion, PhD

Program

School of Religion

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

Richard Amesbury

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Anselm Kyongsuk Min

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Grace Yia-Hei Kao

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2012 Hochul Kwak

Keywords

Basic Income, Concrete Others, Difference and equality, Human rights, Social Individuality, Social Multiculturalism

Subject Categories

Ethics in Religion | Political Science | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Abstract

A globalizing world is replete with the vulnerable, who are experiencing economic poverty, medical maltreatment, political persecution, and/or cultural misrecognition. The vulnerable are under systematic oppression and domination. Although the wealth of humankind increases continuously, many are excluded from any benefit of this increased wealth. While human beings have achieved significant progress in medical technology, uncountable numbers of people are exposed to a shortage of appropriate medical care. Despite continued expansion of democracy around the globe, the powerless majority and minorities are experiencing ignorance of their differences, culturally and/or politically. This dissertation searches for a viable human rights scheme that will effectively address the systematic oppression and domination of the vulnerable. By addressing oppression and domination of the vulnerable, I focus on overcoming several dichotomies: a dichotomy between transcendence and immanence within human beings, a dichotomy between equality and difference among human beings, and a dichotomy between individual differences and group differences. Those dichotomies have been detrimental to addressing systematic oppression and domination of the vulnerable.

With relation to the dichotomy between transcendence and immanence within human beings, I frame the vulnerable as concrete others who have both transcendental dimensions and immanent dimensions. In terms of the dichotomy between equality and difference, my proposal is equality that substantially promotes difference, that is, capability equality and least-gap equality. With regard to the dichotomy between individual difference and group difference, my proposal is multiculturalism based on social individuality. These proposals for overcoming aforementioned dichotomies converge on social multiculturalism. I have argued that equality between groups and equality within groups can best address oppression and domination of concrete others. Specifically, reconfigured basic income guarantee, which includes basic income, public education, public healthcare, and linguistic diversity, is a concrete form of equality within groups that is conducive to promoting equality between groups. Therefore, I think that social multiculturalism based on the reconfigured basic income guarantee is a new, viable version of addressing oppression and domination of the vulnerable.

DOI

10.5642/cguetd/63

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