The Place of the Sacred in the Metropolis: Political Philosophy on the Public Quest for Meaning in Life

Abstract

Urban space has its impact on lived religion, but, at the same time, the public domain is affected by religious practices. Since the public is shared space and therefore a common good, many political philosophers have addressed the question of the proper public place of the sacred. Over the past decades, this issue has gained new interest in the light of the changing social role of religion. In scholarly literature on this topic, many spatial metaphors, like public spheres and domains, are applied. However, discussions often remain theoretical and abstract. This contribution assesses the everyday spatial consequences of different political theories for the place of the sacred in the metropolis.

(A revised version of this paper will be published in print in 2010)

Keywords: public space, postsecularity, city, liberalism, communitarianism, Iris Marion Young