Cultural Identity and Political Ethics Author:Paul Gilbert Cultural identity is increasingly invoked to support the political claims of individuals, claims that often lead to acrimony and violence. Yet what is "cultural identity," and how can we account for its political significance? Paul Gilbert remains provocatively skeptical on this issue, tracing cultural identity back to the largely discredited no... more »tion of national character and arguing that it is not intrinsic to individual psychology. Nor is the concept a uniform phenomenon. Rather, various types of cultural identity have emerged in response to different circumstances, their character marked by superficial behaviors that have persuasive, aesthetic appeal. Therefore, Gilbert believes cultural identities lack ethical significance, and he views their invocation as politically pernicious. This work engages not only with analytic thinkers, such as Isaiah Berlin, Charles Taylor, and Will Kymlicka, but also with continental writers, such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Julia Kristeva.« less