Confronting the Challenges of Orthodoxy to Pluralism: A Case for Privileging Reason in the Public Schools

• In Event: Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Autonomy, Religion, and Exit Rights in Philosophy of Education

Abstract

This conceptual paper examines the challenges from religious orthodoxy to pluralism in the public schools. It identifies and evaluates typical responses to those challenges including proceduralism, accommodationism, and epistemic egalitarianism, and suggests an alternative response based on principles of public reason. The authors argue that reason should be privileged over these other approaches to best help students develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed for autonomous living and meaningful citizenship in pluralist democracies.

Authors

• Benjamin J. Bindewald, Oklahoma State University

• Suzanne N. Rosenblith, Clemson University