Contro il disfattismo della ragione moderna. Per un nuovo patto tra fede e ragione

Habermas points out the asymmetry by which political liberalism has so far included, as part of its own early stage of development, metaphysics while excluding, as falsehood, religious faith. The transformation of the early myth into the classical logos transformation which took place around 500 a.C. poses metaphysics and religion as developing in parallel. Still today, religion and faith appear to be dramatically involved in the conflicts which oppose particular values to general norms, ethical pluralism to legal and moral egualitarism. The defeatism of secular reason appears clearly, Habermas suggests, both in the postmodern version of Enlightment dialectics and in the moral relativism of scientific positivism. Against such defeatism he invokes a new covenant between faith and reason. Both parties must abandon their dogmatism though: religion has to recognize science advancements and the universalism of moral and legal reason. While secular reason should not act as a judge of religious truths. A double process of reflection which at present cannot be taken for granted

Jurgen Habermas, Contro il disfattismo della ragione moderna. Per un nuovo patto tra fede e ragione in "TEORIA POLITICA" 1/2007, pp 5-10, DOI: