Some Thoughts on Ronald Dworkin's Religion Without God

13 Pages Posted: 5 Aug 2013

See all articles by Cecile Laborde

Cecile Laborde

Nuffield College, Oxford University; University of Oxford - Department of Politics and International Relations

Date Written: 2013

Abstract

This paper analyses the arguments of Dworkin's Eistein Lecture, 'Religion without God', focusing on the third lecture. There, Dworkin suggests that one way of solving protracted disputes about religious freedom is to present it as a general not a special right. If freedom of religion is a general right – a right of ethical independence – religion does not need to be defined precisely, nor does it need to be confined to traditional theism. What should be the focus of our attention is not what religion is but, rather, what kind of reasons government appeal to when they restrict people’s attempt to live their lives by their own lights. In this paper, I point to three limits to Dworkin’s strategy of ‘dissolving’ religion

Keywords: freedom of religion, exemptions, establishment, neutrality, rights.

Suggested Citation

Laborde, Cecile and Laborde, Cecile, Some Thoughts on Ronald Dworkin's Religion Without God (2013). APSA 2013 Annual Meeting Paper, American Political Science Association 2013 Annual Meeting, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2300563

Cecile Laborde (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Department of Politics and International Relations ( email )

Manor Road
Oxford, OX1 3UQ
United Kingdom

Nuffield College, Oxford University ( email )

1 New Road
Oxford, OX1 1NF
United Kingdom

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