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A phenomenological challenge to ‘enlightened secularism’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2012

IAN JAMES KIDD
IAN JAMES KIDD*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Durham, Durham, County Durham, DH1 3HN, UK e-mail: i.j.kidd@durham.ac.uk
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Abstract

This article challenges Philip Kitcher's recent proposals for an ‘enlightened secularism’. I use William James's theory of the emotions and his related discussion of ‘temperaments’ to argue that religious and naturalistic commitments are grounded in tacit, inarticulate ways that one finds oneself in a world. This indicates that, in many cases, religiosity and naturalism are grounded not in rational and evidential considerations, but in a tacit and implicit sense of reality which is disclosed through phenomenological enquiry. Once the foundational role of these temperaments is appreciated, it emerges that enlightened secularism relies upon a facile conception of the nature of religious belief – one that lessens its chances for success. The article ends with some positive proposals for incorporating phenomenological insights into debates about science, religion, and secularism.

Type
Articles
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , September 2013 , pp. 377 - 398
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

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