Religious Diversity: Philosophical and Political Dimensions

212 Pages·2016·1.27 MB·English

by  Roger Trigg

religious diversity
PhilosophicalandPoliticalDimensions
Should we merely celebrate diversity in the sphere of religion? What of the
socialcohesionofacountry?Thereisaconstanttug-of-warbetweenbeliefin
religioustruthandtheneedforrespectforotherreligions.ReligiousDiversity:
Philosophical and Political Dimensions examines how far a firm faith can
allow for toleration of difference and respect the need for religious freedom.
It elucidates the philosophical credentials of different approaches to truth in
religion, ranging from a dogmatic fundamentalism to a pluralism that shades
into relativism. Must we resort to a secularism that treats all religion as a
personal and private matter, with nothing to contribute to discussions about
thecommongood?Howshouldlawapproachtheissueofreligiousfreedom?
Having introduced the relevance of central discussions in modern philosophy
ofreligion,thebookgoesontoexaminethepoliticalimplicationsofincreasing
religiousdiversityinademocracy.
RogerTriggisEmeritusProfessorofPhilosophyattheUniversityofWarwick
andSeniorResearchFellowattheIanRamseyCentre,UniversityofOxford.He
ispastPresidentoftheEuropeanSocietyforPhilosophyofReligion,aswellas
theBritishSocietyforPhilosophyofReligion.Heistheauthorofmanybooks
in philosophy, particularly in the philosophy of religion and the philosophy
ofscienceandsocialscience,includingReasonandCommitment(Cambridge
UniversityPress,1973),ReligioninPublicLife:MustReligionBePrivatized?
(2007), and Equality, Freedom and Religion (2012). He has lectured widely
indifferentcountries,includingRussia,onissuesconcerningreligioninpublic
life and religious freedom. He is currently Associate Scholar at Georgetown
University with the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center. He is a
memberoftheCenterofTheologicalInquiryinPrinceton,NewJersey.

CambridgeStudiesinReligion,Philosophy,andSociety
Serieseditors:
PaulMoser,LoyolaUniversityChicago
ChadMeister,BethelCollege
Thisisaseriesofinterdisciplinarytextsdevotedtomajor-levelcoursesin
religion, philosophy, and related fields. It includes original, current, and
wide-spanningcontributionsbyleadingscholarsfromvariousdisciplines
that (a)focus on the centralacademic topics inreligionand philosophy;
(b)areseminalanduptodateregardingrecentdevelopmentsinscholar-
shiponthevariouskeytopics;and(c)incorporate,withneededprecision
anddepth,themajordifferingperspectivesandbackgrounds–thecentral
voicesonthemajorreligionsandthereligious,philosophical,andsocio-
logicalviewpointsthatcovertheintellectuallandscapetoday.Cambridge
Studies in Religion, Philosophy, and Society is a direct response to this
recentandwidespreadinterestandneed.

RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY
Philosophical and Political Dimensions
ROGER TRIGG
TheUniversityofOxford
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(cid:2)C RogerTrigg2014
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Firstpublished2014
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Trigg,Roger.
Religiousdiversity:philosophicalandpoliticaldimensions/RogerTrigg.
pagescm.–(Cambridgestudiesinreligion,philosophy,andsociety)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-02360-4(hardback)–isbn978-1-107-63877-8(pbk.)
1.Freedomofreligion. 2.Religioustolerance. 3.Culturalpluralism. I.Title.
bl640.t75 2014
201ʹ.5–dc23 2013042596
isbn978-1-107-02360-4Hardback
isbn978-1-107-63877-8Paperback
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forexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnot
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For Anna, Nicholas, Lydia, and Clara
c o n t e n t s
Introduction page1
1. TheChallengeofReligiousDiversity 4
2. DoReligionsClaimTruth? 23
3. ReligiousPluralism 42
4. TheRootsofReligiousBelief 60
5. DoesDisagreementUndermineTheism? 77
6. EducationandReligiousDiversity 96
7. TruthandCoercion 114
8. ReligiousDiversityandIdentity 132
9. ReligionasPersonalPreference 151
10. FreedomandReligion 169
Bibliography 189
Index 195
ix