Interreligious dialogue and recognition in the light of the legacy of the Enlightenment

Abstract

Departing from a study of the imagery and conceptual legacy of European Enlightenment in broader sense, this article offers a conception of interreligious dialogue based on a logic of difference. First, our post-secular time is briefly described in order to justify the need of the present study. Secondly, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s parable of the three rings in his Nathan the wise is analyzed in order to show, on the one hand, to what extent the Enlightenment can provide images (allegories, metaphors) for rethinking dialogue among religions, and, on the other, to what extent Lessing’s account is conditioned by a logic of identity, which prevents a positive recognition of the particularity of each of the religions involved in the dialogue. Thirdly, an alternative to this problem is developed by examining the concepts of recognition in two authors of the late German Enlightenment, namely, Schiller and Schelling. Both, it is argued, conceive recognition from a logic of difference that results in a positive recovery of the particular content of religions. So, it is shown that dialogue is only possible if the dignity of the differences of the actors involved in the dialogue is recognized as such. Fourthly and finally, the article concludes with some reflections for outlining a praxis of interreligious dialogue based on both the affirmation of the own identity and the recognition of the other in his or her otherness.