12h45 - 14h, D. 109 Bâtiment Dupriez 

Mardi intime de la Chaire Hoover par Sophie Lauwers (KU Leuven)

Influenced by the school of multiculturalism, normative political philosophers have in recent decades extended their focus from questions of individual rights to group-differentiated recognition. They have argued that the state has special duties to linguistic minorities, immigrant cultures and Indigenous groups. In most of these theories, religion is considered the exception: when it comes to religious groups, it is believed the state should take a hands-off approach of disestablishment. In this presentation, I will examine the reasons for this ‘religious exception’. I argue that multiculturalist philosophy has assumed a) that state neutrality on religion is feasible, and/or b) that religion is different from other cultural aspects because it is primarily a matter of conscience and belief. I will contest both assumptions, and defend group-differentiated religious recognition – an approach that raises new questions for the field of normative political philosophy.