Abstract

This chapter offers a concrete example of how Kantian courage advances the twenty-first century Enlightenment, namely, by showing how it empowers contemporary political theorists to create new terms of political-religious discourse. The chapter begins by examining Kant's intention for creating the concept of the ethical community in Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason. Then, the chapter shows how Kantian courage empowers Rawls to invent the concept of the overlapping consensus, Deleuze the concept of the rhizome, and Ramadan the concept of the space of testimony (dar al-shahada). This chapter contends that the contemporary Enlightenment needs to reach out to constituencies neglected by the historical Enlightenment, including Muslims.

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