Abstract
This article argues that we must abandon the still predominant view of modernity as based upon a separation between the secular and the religious - a “separation” which is allegedly now brought into question again in “postsecularity”. It is more meaningful to start from the premise that religion and politics have always co-existed in various fields of tension and will continue to do so. The question then concerns the natures and modalities of this tension, and how one can articulate a publically grounded reason with reference to it. It will first be argued that this question cannot be articulated, let alone fully answered, from the position developed by John Rawls. A different approach will then be developed, building on the writings of Eric Voegelin. This involves a much more serious engagement with the classical tradition in thought and philosophy than found in Rawls. It also implies much more than a “pragmatic” recognition of religion as a possible source for overlapping consensus, since for Voegelin a true, balanced rationality can only depart from an experientially grounded encounter with the transcendent.
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Notes
There are very close parallels to Foucault’s focus, in the last years before his death, on parrhesia as a practice and way of life in ancient Greece and early Christianity; and this was taken up by Hadot in his understanding of philosophy as a way of life.
As Weber put it (2004: 92), “it is immensely moving when a mature man—no matter whether old or young in years—is aware of a responsibility for the consequences of his conduct and really feels such responsibility with heart and soul. He then acts by following an ethic of responsibility and somewhere he reaches the point where he says: 'Here I stand; I can do no other.'” In the same passage Weber argues that en ethics of ends and an ethics of responsibility stand in no contrast but supplement each other.
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The author wishes to thank Tom Bailey for precious comments on earlier versions of this article.
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Thomassen, B. Reason and Religion in Rawls: Voegelin’s Challenge. Philosophia 40, 237–252 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-011-9351-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-011-9351-4