Between Naturalism and Religion

A major study by a prominent German philosopher reflecting on the tension between the spread of naturalistic worldviews and the revival of religious orthodoxies and their political influence. In analysing the cultural implications of scientistic naturalism, Habermas is careful to do justice to the intersubjective constitution of the mind and what he calls 'the normative character of its rule guided operations.' He observes that hard forms of naturalism reflect the Enlightenment's uncritical faith in science, while the revival of religions questions the liberal assumptions of that same Enlightenment. He sees the danger of too great a polarisation, commenting that the limits of both faith and knowledge should be considered in relation to each other, partly for the sake of civic cohesion. Among the issues examined are religious pluralism and civic solidarity involving the public use of reason, freedom and determinism in the context of naturalism and religion, and the whole question of religious tolerance. The prose is not that easy to read, but the arguments elucidated are significant for our time.