Religion in the Liberal Democracy: the debate between Rawls, Habermas, Ratzinger

Abstract

This article adresses the question of how religion can exist in a liberal democracy. It will first present the concept of «public reason», wich was developed in the Political Liberalism by John Rawls, arquable the most important liberal philosopher of the 20th century. To go in a deeper understanding and appreciation of this important work, it would be helpful to keep in mind Jürgen Habermas’ recent influential writtings that claim religious traditions as pre-political sources for the cultivation of democratic citizenship. In recent years, Pope Ratzinger’s writtings, wich hove often referenced to Rawls’ and Habermas’s works, show a genuine interest in having a fruit ful discourse with both of them.