This course raises the central questions concerning the struggle between the received dogma of religion, and freedom of thought and conscience by focusing on issues such as:

• Views of the 18th century on Man, religion, and reason
• efforts of the 19th century thinkers like Marx, Comte, Durkheim, Weber to change society in a more “rational” direction
• role of the French Revolution in bringing down the traditional underpinnings of European society
• Russian Revolution and the development of the Marxist position on religion
• Turkish secularist revolution and the destruction of the Ottoman Empire
• Iranian Civilization and the Iranian Revolution
• Huntington’s concept of the “Clash of Civilizations.”

Among the questions we will be dealing with are:

• Is it possible to have a “secular” world?
• Is it still possible to have a unified “religious” vision?
• What is the relationship of “religion” to a “secular” state or to a “secular” public?
• How can religious traditions relate to each other, in a constructive and creative fashion, without descending into violence, at a time when they are obliged to come into closer and more intimate relations with each other than ever before?
• What is the relationship between religion and revolution?
• Is religion on the way out, or is it on the way in?
• What contributes to the phenomenal rise in fundamentalist commitment in so many places?
• Are there exceptions?
• Are we condemned to have a Star Wars like “clash of civilizations” between Islam and “the West”?

Course Requirements:

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