Stigma (Ann Speaking)
				Source		MAIN PATH: Malik
				Fred		Malik	Dee

What Malik and Fred are saying is not necessarily incompatible. Malik's project can be interpreted in more than one way.

• If we say that ending stigma is the most important goal of social policy and should take precedence over all other goals, then Malik's project might lead to the tyranny Fred is worried about.
  

• If we say that ending stigma is one of several very important goals of social policy but deny that it automatically takes precedence, then have to weigh and balance these different values. In this case, the essence of Malik's project consists of elevating stigma to the highest level of concern and giving it substantial weight in the balancing process.

I believe in what might be called an "irreducible pluralism" of values. That means that I believe that we, as Americans, value more than one thing and that no one thing takes precedence over all others. For example, we value liberty, equality, truth, religion, love, community, and so on. So my understanding of Malik's project would be one that fits with this pluralism.

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