Abstract:
This thesis explores the place of religion in the public sphere of Western societies in the twenty-first century. It begins by surveying the range of contrasting views on the subject in order to situate the work conducted by this thesis, which compares and contrasts the positions of Jürgen Habermas and Charles Taylor, two of the leading contemporary voices in the debate. Chapter 1 explores Habermas’s evolving thought on the role of religion in the public sphere, plotting the course of his philosophical enquiry from dismissal of religion and relegation of it to the private sphere in a fairly typical Enlightenment stance to the overt acceptance of the value of religion. Chapter 2 then explicates Taylor’s views on the development of religion in society, beginning with his argument that the building blocks of Western morality are founded upon religious sources, which have therefore had a significant influence on both modernization and secularization. Chapter 3, which forms the core of the thesis, compares and contrasts the thinking of Habermas and Taylor on religion in the public sphere. By isolating the areas where the two philosophers agree and disagree, it reveals (1) the various ways in which religion in the public sphere has positive potential for society, (2) the problems caused when religion is restricted, and (3) the difficulties with allowing religion back into public debate. While there is not – and may never be – a final answer to the question of what is the “right” way to live, this thesis concludes that the constant testing and mutual interaction of different worldviews – both secular and religious – in the public sphere needs to be encouraged if increasingly pluralistic Western societies are to avoid descending into chaos.