Уильям Кимлика: Канадалық философ және көпмәдениеттілік саршыны

Canadian philosopher (born 1962)

William Kymlicka ('/k//ɪ//m//l//ɪ//k//ə/; born 1962) is a Canadian political philosopher best known for his work on multiculturalism and animal ethics. He is currently Professor of Philosophy and Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy at Queen's University at Kingston, and Recurrent Visiting professor in the Nationalism Studies program at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. For over 20 years, he has lived a vegan lifestyle, and he is married to the Canadian author and animal rights activist Sue Donaldson.

Kymlicka received his B. A. (Honours) in philosophy and political studies from Queen's University in 1984, and his D. Phil. in philosophy from Oxford University in 1987, under the direction of G. A. Cohen. He has written extensively on multiculturalism and political philosophy, and several of his books have been translated into other languages. Kymlicka has held professorships at a variety of different universities in Canada and abroad, and has also worked as an advisor to the Government of Canada.

For Kymlicka, the standard liberal criticism, which states that group rights are problematic because they often treat individuals as mere carriers of group identities, rather than autonomous social agents, is overstated or oversimplified. The actual problem of minorities and how they should be viewed in liberal democracies is much more complex. There is a distinction between good group rights, bad group rights, and intolerable group rights. Bad group rights (internal restrictions) are rules imposed by the group upon intragroup relations. They most often take the form of the group restricting the liberty of individual members in the name of group solidarity. Indigenous groups try to protect themselves from women's movements on the basis that they threaten the social and traditional role of indigenous populations. He contends that may raise the danger of individual oppression. Internal restrictions can be used to uphold violent, dominant, absolutist systems. Legally imposed internal restrictions are thus bad and almost always unjust, not to mention that they go against liberal ideals. Good group rights (external protections) involve intergroup relations. Indigenous groups need protection in terms of their nationals identities by limiting the vulnerability of that group to the decisions of external groups or society. Therefore, they should have the right to their own taxation, health care, education, and governance.

The book Zoopolis, by Sue Donaldson and co authored with Kymlicka, explores the state of animal rights for different categories of animals. Donaldson and Kymlicka believe that abolitionism is an inadequate response to both the ethical and practical challenges of living fairly and constructively with other animals. Donaldson and Kymlicka suggest that animals should be characterized through three categories, serving to determine the nature of the laws and politics that should protect those animals. Domesticated animals should be given a kind of adjusted co citizenship in which their best interest and preferences would be taken into account. Donaldson and Kymlicka defend the end of their use, advocating for a vegan position, but they reject extinctionism with regards to those animals that are currently breed by humans. Wild animals should be granted sovereignty on their land enough so that they can sustain their way of living and prosper. Donaldson and Kymlicka support some moderate forms of intervention to reduce wild animal suffering, and they claim that more significant courses of action should be aiming at keeping wild animals able to lead their lives. "Liminal" animals, those that are not domesticated but live in urban, suburban, or industrial areas (such as mice, pigeons and insects), should be treated as denizens of human communities.

Zoopolis: A Political Theory Of Animal Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011). "Immigration, Multiculturalism, and the Welfare State" (Ethics & International Affairs, Volume 20.3, Fall 2006)
Politics in the Vernacular: Nationalism, Multiculturalism, Citizenship (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001). Finding Our Way: Rethinking Ethnocultural Relations in Canada (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998). Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995). Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990–2001). Liberalism, Community, and Culture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989–1991).