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Pluralism As a Social Practice: a Pragmatist Approach to Engaging Diversity in Public Life Southern Methodist University SMU Scholar Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations Religious Studies Spring 5-16-2020 Pluralism as a Social Practice: A Pragmatist Approach to Engaging Diversity in Public Life Mary Leah Friedline Southern Methodist University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/religious_studies_etds Part of the Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, Feminist Philosophy Commons, Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Friedline, Mary Leah, "Pluralism as a Social Practice: A Pragmatist Approach to Engaging Diversity in Public Life" (2020). Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations. 21. https://scholar.smu.edu/religious_studies_etds/21 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Religious Studies at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. PLURALISM AS A SOCIAL PRACTICE: A PRAGMATIST APPROACH TO ENGAGING DIVERSITY IN PUBLIC LIFE Approved by: ____________________________________ Prof. Rebekah Miles Professor of Ethics and Practical Theology ____________________________________ Prof. D. Stephen Long The Maguire University Chair in Ethics ___________________________________ Prof. Robert Hunt Director of Global Theological Education ___________________________________ Prof. Victor Anderson Oberlin Theological School Professor of Ethics and Society PLURALISM AS A SOCIAL PRACTICE: A PRAGMATIST APPROACH TO ENGAGING DIVERSITY IN PUBLIC LIFE A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Faculty of Dedman College Southern Methodist University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy With a Major in Religious Studies by Mary Leah Friedline B.A., Religion and History, Furman University MTS, Candler School of Theology, Emory University May 16, 2020 Copyright (2020) Mary Leah Friedline All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to all the people who have been there for me throughout this process: My family who has always supported my decision to pursue a PhD, My husband who stuck with me through all the ups and downs, my friends and colleagues who commiserated with me, my professors and committee who provided valuable mentorship and feedback. I am fortunate to have such a wonderful support system! iv Friedline, Mary Leah B.A., Religion and History, Furman University MTS, Candler School of Theology, Emory University Pluralism as a Social Practice: A Pragmatist Approach to Engaging Diversity in Public Life Advisor: Professor Rebekah Miles Doctor of Philosophy conferred May 16, 2020 Dissertation completed April 28, 2020 My dissertation lays a theoretical framework for rethinking the ways in which political and moral philosophers conceive pluralism and diversity in public life. I argue that many philosophers who write on the topic do not have a sophisticated understanding of religion, are not sufficiently attentive to historically produced power differentials, and/or do not adequately recognize the intersectional dimensions of diversity. Building on Jeffrey Stout’s notion of democracy as a social practice, and supplemented with Cornel West’s understanding of democratic faith, I use my more complex account of diversity to argue that pluralism is best approached as a social practice, instead of as a challenge that must be navigated by shared traditions or structures of justification. v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: RAWLS, PLURALISM, AND THE ROOTS OF SOCIAL CONFLICT ........... 8 1.1 Rawls on religion and pluralism................................................................................ 9 1.2 Critiques of Rawl’s understanding of religion and pluralism .............................. 20 1.3 Race, gender, and the burdens of history ............................................................... 33 1.4 Pluralism and the roots of social conflict................................................................ 48 CHAPTER 2: ALASDAIR MACINTYRE’S CRITIQUE OF LIBERAL PLURALISM ....... 55 2.1 MacIntyre’s sociology of modern moral philosophy ............................................ 57 2.2 The rationality of traditions ..................................................................................... 62 2.3 Interrogating MacIntyre’s concept of a tradition ................................................. 64 2.4 Tradition, pluralism, and the politics of local community .................................... 79 CHAPTER 3: JUSTIFICATION, MORAL AUTHORITY, AND DEMOCRACY IN PRAGMATIST PHILOSOPHY ....................................................................................... 92 3.1 Pragmatism, truth, and justification ...................................................................... 93 3.2 Pragmatism and pluralism ...................................................................................... 99 3.3 Towards a pluralist faith and practice ................................................................. 116 CHAPTER 4: APPROACHING PLURALISM AS A SOCIAL PRACTICE ....................... 128 vi 4.1 Revising Rawls and MacIntyre ............................................................................ 129 4.2 Virtue ethics and practices..................................................................................... 135 4.3 Essential Partners and the practice of public conversation ................................ 142 4.4 The IAF and the practice of democracy .............................................................. 155 4.5 Lessons and limits of the case studies ................................................................... 168 4.6 Pluralism as a social practice: theological and philosophical committments ... 174 4.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 179 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 92 vii INTRODUCTION This dissertation in religious ethics is also a work of political philosophy that aims to contribute to the existing literature on pluralism in public life. Though the exact definition is open to debate, pluralism, in the context of a liberal democracy, can be broadly understood as a system in which people of diverse religions and belief systems can coexist peacefully with, more or less, equal opportunity to share in political power. There are two separate sets of questions that political philosophers must address when discussing pluralism. The first are questions about the laws and government structures that make up pluralism as a political institution. The second set of questions is addressed to citizens living in a pluralist democracy concerning how they ought to act in public life in relation to their government and their fellow citizens. These are questions about civic virtue. This dissertation is primarily concerned with this second set of questions. I advocate for approaching pluralism as a social practice, and in doing so I am recommending a way for citizens to navigate life in a diverse pluralistic society. The government has a role in adopting such an approach to pluralism—citizens are socialized in public schools and government mandated curriculums, influenced by the rhetoric of public figures, and informed by the constitutional guarantees that undergird the laws of the republic. However, in advancing a notion of pluralism as a social practice, I am not recommending a framework for legislation or a test for the courts to rule on matter of religious freedom. Rather, I present a strategy for citizens to navigate the challenges of life in a diverse society, and to do so in a way that promotes justice and equality. Thus, I also aim to make a contribution to political ethics. I do not presume that my theory of pluralism is broadly applicable to every political or cultural context. As a citizen of the United States, I take American democracy as the context for my work. Though I would like to think citizens of other countries could find some value in my thought, I cannot claim to speak for them or their particular concerns. I take a cue from Jeffrey Stout, an author from whom I will draw heavily in advancing my own theory, in understanding my work as, in part, an act of social criticism. As such, it is “necessarily a somewhat parochial affair.”1 A large part of the conversation on pluralism and civic virtue in political philosophy has focused on what sorts of reasons people might use to defend their positions in public life. It is religious reasons that are primarily in question here. Should religious persons living in a religiously diverse society bring their religious reasons for advocating a certain policy or position into the public debate? Some worry that doing so is a threat to social order and an unfair imposition of religion on one’s fellow citizens. Others would argue that excluding such reasons from public debate is an unreasonable expectation of religious citizens and an undue limit on the exercise of religious freedom. I am more sympathetic to the latter argument, but this dissertation is not largely aimed at defending that
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