Negotiating religious exemptions: a public reason perspective

In this thesis I elaborate on three reasons why religious exemptions from generally applicable laws are not publicly justifiable in a liberal democratic society. First, mere claims of the form “God says so and my conscience requires that I obey” do not explicate the rationale behind the legal provis...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Bespalov, Andrei
Tipo de recurso: tesis doctoral
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:CBUC, CESCA
Repositorio:TDR. Tesis Doctorales en Red
OAI Identifier:oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/667498
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10803/667498
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Claims of conscience
Legitimacy
Public reason
Religious liberty
Religious exemptions
Reclamos de conciencia
Legitimidad
Razón pública
Libertad religiosa
Exenciones religiosas
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Descripción
Sumario:In this thesis I elaborate on three reasons why religious exemptions from generally applicable laws are not publicly justifiable in a liberal democratic society. First, mere claims of the form “God says so and my conscience requires that I obey” do not explicate the rationale behind the legal provisions that they are expected to support. Therefore, such claims cannot be regarded even as pro tanto justificatory reasons for any legal provisions, be it laws or exemptions. Second, no matter how elaborate they are, reasons based on religious faith cannot be allowed in public justification of exemptions because such reasons involve non-negotiable claims about final values, which is incompatible with respect for fellow citizens as equal co-legislators. Third, even if religious arguments are allowed in public justification, carving out religious exemptions from generally applicable laws is still impermissible because it arbitrarily bends the sovereign will of the people to the dictate of religious doctrines.