What We Mean when We Say… Secular State
Author(s) Marko Božić Publisher Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade Institute for Democratic Engagement Southeast Europe, Belgrade Published 2021 ISBN 978-86-80484-69-3 Pages 13 Edition SquareIn its starting assumptions, the text first tries to establish a connection between a broader postmodern critique of objective scientific knowledge and the populist crisis of democracy. The author defends the idea of the secular state is a value-neutral political entity, based on the authority of objective and universal valid scientific knowledge which does not a priori recognize any religious belief or other personal conviction. As such, a secular state is an instrumental principle or pre-condition for democracy as a forum for establishing a compromise over values, and not in itself a value. The author tests this theoretical concept by looking at it through the contemporary dilemmas of secularism. The text ends with a review of open questions for the present-day secular state and potential responses.