The Assimilation of Faith to Knowledge? On Habermas' Assessment of Hegel's Account of the Relationship of Reason, Religion and Secularity

Abstract

This article questions the critique of Hegel advanced by Habermas in his 2019 Auch eine Geschichte der Philosophie, which defends a vision of postmetaphysical thought from the perspective of the relationship of faith and reason as it evolved throughout the history of Western thought. Issues addressed include the conjunction of faith and reason as a modern phenomenon, the practical dimension of (individual and cultic) faith, the responsibility of believers for worldly engagement, and the notion that religious-theological considerations empower rather than undermine a modern secular polity. Hegel is shown to provide a nuanced account of the relationship of religious and secular considerations that compares favourably to Habermas' own.