Plural moralities and the search for meaning

In this chapter the question of plural moralities is related to people’s search for meaning: what do they consider to be good and meaningful in an aesthetical, existential, and spiritual sense? The search for meaning is rooted in a basic urge to belong to this world. In a late-modern world, however, the sense of belonging is challenged because every existential stance is felt as an option and an individual choice out of competing possibilities. The relevance of (religious) worldviews has changed dramatically due to processes of modernization and secularization. This is discussed in terms of minoritization: on the one hand, minorities of multiple types encounter and confront one another; on the other hand, there are intense pressures to counteract or avoid this result. These are the dynamics of plural moralities in many societies. Against this backdrop, the chapter argues for a form of pluralism that rests on three pillars: justice as evenhandedness (Carens, 2000), building new connections that contribute to a sense of belonging (Connolly, 2011), and moral imagination (Lederach, 2005). This form of pluralism can be realized by strengthening a relational approach to moral and spiritual leadership, taking into account divergent conceptions of the good. The chapter concludes with concrete lines of approach to facilitate such leadership.