On diversity

Pluralism is an extremely important concept alongside another important concept, multiculturalism, because these two terms recognise the importance of another term, diversity – i.e. we’re not all the same. These are – I like to say when I’m talking about this – these are facts. It’s not a debate about pluralism or multiculturalism, or diversity. We are diverse. You and I look differently, we speak differently, we may have different languages, we come from different cultural traditions, different religious traditions, different life experiences. But we live together. Insofar as we share countries, insofar as we share communities with people who don’t come from that same place, we need to figure out the principles that will help us order our lives together. And these are not just legal principles, they’re also principles of common manners, courtesy – but these are moral conceptions first, and then they’re legal conceptions later.