ABSTRACT
There are two incontrovertible facts about the human condition. One is the immutable individuality of each person, unique in looks, voice and mind. The other is the fact that each individual sensibility is moulded by culture, manifested in language, social attitudes and beliefs. These facts might be incontrovertible but they are also in tension. Prejudice emerges from the way in which the ambiguities of existence, both individually self-centred and culturally moulded, are dealt with. There are two pathological extremes, attempts to withdraw from the cultural environment as much as possible, and basing as much of one's existence as possible on being subsumed within it.
