Why Tolerate Religion?

Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-0-691-15361-2
Verlag: Princeton University Press

Buch, Englisch, 192 Seiten, Format (B × H): 151 mm x 230 mm, Gewicht: 389 g

This provocative book addresses one of the most enduring puzzles in political philosophy and constitutional theory--why is religion singled out for preferential treatment in both law and public discourse? Why, for example, can a religious soup kitchen get an exemption from zoning laws in order to expand its facilities to better serve the needy, while a secular soup kitchen with the same goal cannot? Why is a Sikh boy permitted to wear his ceremonial dagger to school while any other boy could be expelled for packing a knife? Why are religious obligations that conflict with the law accorded special toleration while other obligations of conscience are not? In Why Tolerate Religion?, Brian Leiter argues that the reasons have nothing to do with religion, and that Western democracies are wrong to single out religious liberty for special legal protections. He offers new insights into what makes a claim of conscience distinctively "religious," and draws on a wealth of examples from America, Europe, and elsewhere to highlight the important issues at stake. With philosophical acuity, legal insight, and wry humor, Leiter shows why our reasons for tolerating religion are not specific to religion but apply to all claims of conscience, and why a government committed to liberty of conscience is not required by the principle of toleration to grant exemptions to laws that promote the general welfare.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Leiter, Brian

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Politik & Religion, Religionsfreiheit
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religion & Politik, Religionsfreiheit
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface and Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Chapter I

Toleration 5
Chapter II

Religion 26
Chapter III

Why Tolerate Religion? 54
Chapter IV

Why Respect Religion? 68
Chapter V

The Law of Religious Liberty in
a Tolerant Society 92
Notes 135

Selected Bibliography 175

Index 181

Über Autor(innen)

Leiter, Brian
Brian Leiter is the Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the Center for Law, Philosophy, and Human Values at the University of Chicago. He is the author of "Naturalizing Jurisprudence" and "Nietzsche on Morality" and the coeditor of the annual "Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Law". He authors the Leiter Reports blog

Brian Leiter is John P. Wilson Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Law, Philosophy, and Human Values at the University of Chicago.