Ostalo
REASONABLE PLURALISM: LIBERAL STATE AS KEEPER OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Georg Kohler
; Universität Zürich, Zürichbergstrasse 43, 8044 Zürich, Švicarska
Sažetak
The author looks into the relation between politics, state and religion from the
political-science perspective, as part of an analysis and evaluation of tasks,
achievements and failures of polity, policy or politics from the standpoint of
normative-constructive philosophy of equity. At present the central task of
policy is to stimulate and strengthen the Western political culture based on the
fundamental distinction between “reasonable” and “unreasonable” pluralism.
“Reasonable” pluralism rests on the assumption that the state is a just power,
the sovereignty of which can be recognized in distinguishing the “public” and
the “private”, the just and the good, and, in connection therewith, it is almost
self-understandable that such a liberal guaranteed private sphere must be the
primary arena of religious practice and religious freedoms. The crucial trait
of the relation between state and religion is manifest in the fact that only the
legal state and the liberal constitution are competent to state what the freedom
of individuals consists of within the framework of norms of what is just. The
author defines “religion” in the comprehensive sense as central to the processes
of forming cultural identity, and he deems that cultural policy (which,
in principle, has to do with relations between state and religion), as policy
of equitable integration of multi-culturally shaped political unities, must be
oriented toward stimulation of those attitudes and values which make possible
the reasonable pluralism defined according to Rawls. Since the political
encompasses also the possibility to make enemies, the author advocates the
cultural policy of “weakening the feelings of enmity” (N. Elias). In this way,
a systematic concept of policy would be created, one which would reflect and
preserve the conditions of reasonable pluralism. On the policy level and, in
particular, on the politics level, cultural policy is a very demanding project.
Perhaps it is precisely Switzerland, with its special prospects of civil democracy,
that offers promising cultural-policy opportunities for activity, which
are as yet still insufficiently researched.
Ključne riječi
politics; polity; policy; “reasonable” pluralism; state; religion; culture; Rawls
Hrčak ID:
71128
URI
Datum izdavanja:
21.6.2011.
Posjeta: 2.009 *