This paper aims to trace the history of understanding others and find the way multiculrural education should take. To do this two different viewpoints of judging others are discussed. One is the ethnocentric viewpoint from which others are regarded as the strange, the barbarous, the dangerous, or the inferior. The other is the cultural relativistic viewpoint from which others are understood taking their own situations and experiences into considerations. Various forms of treating others have existed as the practices of these two views. The creation of the term 'race', scientific racism, cultural racism and institutionalized racism can be considered the practices of the formers view. The discovery of others, egalitarianism, multiculturalism and the principle of diversity exist as the extensions of the latters view. Two types of these practices result from different responses to the various conflicts from the encounters of the others. The former are the expressions of the internal desire to dominate and discriminate others, and the latter are those of efforts to settle them reasonably. Therefore, in multicultural education it is recommended to teach students to understand others taking their own situation and experiences into consideration, besides simply introducing them to the diversity of different cultures of other people.

This paper aims to trace the history of understanding others and find the way multiculrural education should take. To do this two different viewpoints of judging others are discussed. One is the ethnocentric viewpoint from which others are regarded as the strange, the barbarous, the dangerous, or the inferior. The other is the cultural relativistic viewpoint from which others are understood taking their own situations and experiences into considerations. Various forms of treating others have existed as the practices of these two views. The creation of the term 'race', scientific racism, cultural racism and institutionalized racism can be considered the practices of the formers view. The discovery of others, egalitarianism, multiculturalism and the principle of diversity exist as the extensions of the latters view. Two types of these practices result from different responses to the various conflicts from the encounters of the others. The former are the expressions of the internal desire to dominate and discriminate others, and the latter are those of efforts to settle them reasonably. Therefore, in multicultural education it is recommended to teach students to understand others taking their own situation and experiences into consideration, besides simply introducing them to the diversity of different cultures of other people.