The Souls Of Europe

• Authors: Govert J. Buijs

Title variants

LT

Europos sielos

Abstracts

EN

How should Europe deal politically with its legacy as a so-called "Christian civilization"? Should this imply an overt reference to God or to the Christian or Judeo-Christian tradition in European constitutional documents (as was debated when the so-called "Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe" was tabled)? This debate raised the old "politico-theological problem": does a political order need some kind of metaphysical or religious grounding, a "soul", or can it present itself as a purely rational order, the result of a utilitarian calculus? In this article it is argued that the secular idea of the state as an inherent element in the "Judeo-Christian tradition", for a "divine state" usurps a place that is only God's. So, this religious tradition itself calls for a secular state, and this inherent relationship between religion and secularity has become a key element for the interpretation of European civilization, most notably in the idea of a separation of the church and the state. But the very fact that this is a religious idea does imply that the European political order cannot be seen as a purely rational political order without a soul. The idea of a "plural soul" is proposed as a way out of the dilemma.

LT

Santrauka Kaip politine prasme Europa turėtų pasielgti su savu vadinamuoju "krikščioniškosios civilizacijos" palikimu? Ar šis palikimas turėtų atvirai nurodyti Dievą arba krikščioniškąją, arba žydiškąją-krikščioniškąją, tradiciją, aptinkamą konstituciniuose Europos dokumentuose (kai buvo svarstoma pateikta vadinamoji "Sutartis dėl Konstitucijos Europai")? Ši diskusija iškėlė seną "politinę-teologinę problemą": ar politinei santvarkai reikia tam tikro metafizinio, ar religinio pamato, "sielos"? O gal ta politinė santvarka gali būti suprantama kaip grynai racionali tvarka, kaip utilitarinės apskaitos rezultatas? Šiame straipsnyje įrodinėjama, kad sekuliarios valstybės idėja yra neatsiejama nuo "žydiškosioskrikščioniškosios tradicijos", dėl "Dievo valstybės" uzurpuojanti paties Dievo vietą. Tad ši religinė tradicija reikalauja sekuliarios valstybės, o nesuardomas religijos ir sekuliarumo santykis tapo kertiniu akmeniu Europos civilizacijos interpretacijoje, labiausiai išryškėjančiu bažnyčios ir valstybės perskyros idėjoje. Tačiau pats faktas, kad ši idėja yra religinio pobūdžio, leidžia teigti, jog politinė Europos santvarka negali būti vertinama kaip grynai racionali politinė santvarka, neturinti sielos. "Grynosios sielos" idėja čia siūloma kaip galimas išeities taškas, sprendžiant minėtą dilemą.

Keywords

EN

Europe; European civilization; Judeo-Christian tradition; political order; religion; secularity

LT

Europa; Europos civilizacija; žydiškoji-krikščioniškoji tradicija; politinė santvarka; religija; sekuliarumas

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Limes. Cultural Regionalistics
• Year: 2009
• Volume: 2
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 126-139

Contributors

author

Govert J. Buijs

• Department of Philosophy, VU-University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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Identifiers

DOI

10.3846/2029-0187.2009.2.126-139