Secularism and freedom of conscience
By: Jocelyn Maclure and Charles Taylor ; translated by Jane Marie Todd
Contributors: Taylor, Charles, 1931-
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 142
ISBN-13: 9780674058651
Subjects: Freedom of religion; Liberty of conscience; Secularism
Work titles: Laïcité et liberté de conscience
Description: "Secularism: the definition of this word is as practical and urgent as income inequalities or the paths to sustainable development. In this wide-ranging analysis, Jocelyn Maclure and Charles Taylor provide a clearly reasoned, articulate account of the two main principles of secularism-equal respect, and freedom of conscience-and its two operative modes-separation of Church (or mosque or temple) and State, and State neutrality vis-à-vis religions. But more crucially, they make the powerful argument that in our ever more religiously diverse, politically interconnected world, secularism, properly understood, may offer the only path to religious and philosophical freedom. Secularism and Freedom of Conscience grew out of a very real problem-Quebec's need for guidelines to balance the equal respect due to all citizens with the right to religious freedom. But the authors go further, rethinking secularism in light of other critical issues of our time. The relationship between religious beliefs and deeply-held secular convictions, the scope of the free exercise of religion, and the place of religion in the public sphere are aspects of the larger challenge Maclure and Taylor address: how to manage moral and religious diversity in a free society. Secularism, they show, is essential to any liberal democracy in which citizens adhere to a plurality of conceptions of what gives meaning and direction to human life. The working model the authors construct in this nuanced account is capacious enough to accommodate difference and freedom of conscience, while holding out hope for a world in which diversity no longer divides us." -- Back cover.
Notes: Translated from the French.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [111]-133) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: Secularism today; title: Moral pluralism, neutrality, and secularism; title: The principles of secularism; title: Regimes of secularism; title: Public sphere and private sphere; title: Religious symbols and rituals in the public space; title: Liberal-pluralist secularism : the case of Quebec; title: The legal obligation for reasonable accommodation; title: Are religious beliefs "expensive tastes"? : choices, circumstances, and individual responsibility; title: The subjective conception of freedom of religion and the individualization of belief; title: Does the legal obligation for accommodation favor religion? : religious and secular convictions of conscience; title: The reasonable limits to freedom of conscience; title: Conclusion: The future of secularism.