The Tension Between Normativity and Plurality in Religious Dogmas and in Constitutional Principles

Abstract

This essay briefly analyzes whether the tension between normativity and plurality in religious dogmas may shed a light in the similar tension also found in the dynamics of constitutional principles. The application of Gadamer’s hermeneutical theory to a transcendental theological framework is placed into conversation with Dworkin’s integrity of the law. This is undertaken through a comparison between the dynamics of conversation for religious dogmas as symbols of a tradition and the function of constitutional principles in the context of Ronald Dworkin’s theory of law as integrity.

Keywords: religious plurality, religious dogmas, constitutional principles, constitutional change, conversation