Secularism and freedom of conscience / Jocelyn Maclure and Charles Taylor ; translated by Jane Marie Todd.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Maclure, Jocelyn, 1973-

Contributor:

Taylor, Charles, 1931-

Todd, Jane Marie, 1957-

Standardized Title:

Laïcité et liberté de conscience. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Secularism.

Freedom of religion.

Liberty of conscience.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (153 p.)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

pt. 1. Secularism

pt. 2. Freedom of conscience.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674265721

0674265726

9780674062955

0674062957

OCLC:

768119785