RELI 210 - Secularism and Its Discontents

1 unit(s)

Is there a distinct realm called the secular, which is free of and from the religious? As sons and daughters of the Enlightenment, we’ve come to think that there is. What sort of philosophical and historical moments have led to the public insistence on a non-religious space? What projects in ethics, politics, and identity have the insistence on the secular authorized? This class both analyzes and contests modern assumptions about secularism and the religious, and asks whether the ideals of secularism have materialized. Is it possible or even desirable to create realms scrubbed free of the religious, in our politics, in our public institutions, or in ourselves? Mr. Kahn.

Not offered in 2014/15.