Religion as a Basic Human Good

Type Thesis

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Summary

In recent years, there have been a number of books and articles that have presented arguments for and against the idea that there should be special legal protection of religious freedom. One question to which such treatments respond can be articulated thus: Are there strong philosophical grounds for positing a distinct right of religious freedom that would sometimes justify immunity from otherwise generally applicable laws? Various thinkers working within the tradition of natural law argue that such a distinct right should be protected by law on account of what they argue is a distinct fundamental aspect of human well-being, namely, religion. Up until now, there has not been a book length treatment of this purported basic good and the various considerations of it that are relevant for the issue of religious freedom. In this work I examine the nature of basic goods in general before analyzing the good of religion specifically. Since a common obstacle to respect for religious freedom is the claim that its pursuit is inherently irrational and even irresponsible, I also defend the basic rationality of religious belief, at least in its paradigm cases. Finally, I discuss the relationship between religion and freedom and respond to any additional objections from those who acknowledge the good of religion but do not see why religious freedom requires specific legal protection.