Secularism and Freedom of Conscience

Jocelyn Maclure; Charles Taylor

Published by Harvard University Press 2011

Secularism and Freedom of Conscience

Jocelyn Maclure and Charles Taylor

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674062955

Overview
Contents

About this book

Secularism: the definition of this word is as practical and urgent as income inequalities or the paths to sustainable development. In this wide-ranging analysis, Jocelyn Maclure and Charles Taylor provide a clearly reasoned, articulate account of the two main principles of secularism—equal respect, and freedom of conscience—and its two operative modes—separation of Church (or mosque or temple) and State, and State neutrality vis-à-vis religions. But more crucially, they make the powerful argument that in our ever more religiously diverse, politically interconnected world, secularism, properly understood, may offer the only path to religious and philosophical freedom.

Secularism and Freedom of Conscience grew out of a very real problem—Quebec’s need for guidelines to balance the equal respect due to all citizens with the right to religious freedom. But the authors go further, rethinking secularism in light of other critical issues of our time. The relationship between religious beliefs and deeply-held secular convictions, the scope of the free exercise of religion, and the place of religion in the public sphere are aspects of the larger challenge Maclure and Taylor address: how to manage moral and religious diversity in a free society. Secularism, they show, is essential to any liberal democracy in which citizens adhere to a plurality of conceptions of what gives meaning and direction to human life. The working model the authors construct in this nuanced account is capacious enough to accommodate difference and freedom of conscience, while holding out hope for a world in which diversity no longer divides us.

Author / Editor information

Maclure Jocelyn :

Jocelyn Maclure is Professeur agrégé de philosophie at Université Laval.Taylor Charles :

Charles Taylor is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at McGill University.

Topics

Frontmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	v
INTRODUCTION Secularism Today Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part One. SECULARISM
1. Moral Pluralism, Neutrality, and Secularism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
2. The Principles of Secularism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
3. Regimes of Secularism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	27
4. Public Sphere and Private Sphere Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	36
5. Religious Symbols and Rituals in the Public Space Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
6. Liberal- Pluralist Secularism: The Case of Quebec Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
Part Two. FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE
Freedom of conscience Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	62
7. The Legal Obligation for Reasonable Accommodation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	65
8. Are Religious Beliefs “Expensive Tastes”? Choices, Circumstances, and Individual Responsibility Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
9. The Subjective Conception of Freedom of Religion and the Individualization of Belief Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	81
10. Does the Legal Obligation for Accommodation Favor Religion? Religious and Secular Convictions of Conscience Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
11. The Reasonable Limits to Freedom of Conscience Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	100
Conclusion The Future of Secularism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 160

eBook

Published: November 29, 2011
ISBN: 9780674062955