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ANCIENT LAND 2026
Religion and Communicative Rationality in Habermas
Fatiha Khaldi
Abstract. The question of religion within the age of communicative rationality, as articulated by Jürgen Habermas, concerns the place of religion in modern societies increasingly founded on dialogue and rational communication among individuals. With the emergence of modernity, it was widely assumed that scientific and rational progress would lead to the decline of religion and its exclusion from the public sphere. However, the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas reconsiders this relationship, arguing that religion remains an important source of values and moral meanings that can enrich deliberation in the public sphere. He therefore advocates a form of coexistence between religious and secular discourse, whereby religion participates in societal dialogue on the condition that its ideas are translated into a shared rational language accessible to all citizens for understanding and debate. In this context, Habermas emphasises that contemporary societies are postsecular, acknowledging the enduring presence of religion alongside rationality and seeking a balance between them within a framework of dialogue and mutual understanding.
Keywords: communicative rationality, public sphere, religion, Post-Secular Society, Habermas
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