The souls of Europe

Abstract

How should Europe deal politically with its legacy as a so‐called “Christian civilization"? Should this imply an overt reference to God or to the Christian or Judeo‐Christian tradition in European constitutional documents (as was debated when the so‐called “Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe” was tabled)? This debate raised the old “politico‐theological problem”: does a political order need some kind of metaphysical or religious grounding, a “soul”, or can it present itself as a purely rational order, the result of a utilitarian calculus? In this article it is argued that the secular idea of the state as an inherent element in the “Judeo‐Christian tradition”, for a “divine state” usurps a place that is only God's. So, this religious tradition itself calls for a secular state, and this inherent relationship between religion and secularity has become a key element for the interpretation of European civilization, most notably in the idea of a separation of the church and the state. But the very fact that this is a religious idea does imply that the European political order cannot be seen as a purely rational political order without a soul. The idea of a “plural soul” is proposed as a way out of the dilemma.