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Does Political Islam Conflict With Secular Democracy? Philosophical Reflections on Religion and Politics
Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works
  • David Ingram, Loyola University Chicago
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2014
Abstract
Abstract: This paper rebuts the thesis that political Islam conflicts with secular democracy. More precisely, it examines three sorts of claims that ostensibly support this thesis: (a) The Muslim religion is incompatible with secular democracy; (b) No Muslim country has instituted secular democracy; and (c) No movement seeking to advance its agenda as aggressively as political Islam does can do so with the degree of moderation required of a political party that is committed to secular democracy. Theologians, philosophers, and political scientists have debated (a) through (c) within the jurisdiction of their respective fields. I propose to combine these debates in developing what I hope will be a novel interdisciplinary examination of the relevant issues. The paper compares different types of Muslim regimes, different models of secular democracy, and different conceptions of public reason, and concludes with a comparison between Catholicism and Islam regarding the relevant question.
Comments

Under review at The Review of Politics.

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
Citation Information
David Ingram. "Does Political Islam Conflict With Secular Democracy? Philosophical Reflections on Religion and Politics" (2014)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/david_ingram/3/