The Idea
The text defends the idea that the age of globalization imposes an epistemic horizon that cannot be limited to confronting religion with science, or science with religion. What is meant is a broader rationality that engages with the complexity of reality and prevents reducing human beings to either one of the two domains alone. This appeal thus appears as a search for a way of seeing that combines critical understanding with a sense of meaning, rather than merely remaining within the limits of the old separation.
Condensed Formulation
Globalization: calls for a third rationality that goes beyond the science/religion binary
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This idea comes at the heart of the argument as a response to the impasse of the present, not merely as a general recommendation. The book does not stop at describing the tension between science and religion; it proposes an exit that makes possible a new reading of contemporary reality. Here, the “third rationality” becomes a framework that supports the book’s entire project in criticizing the sharp divisions that hinder understanding.
Why It Matters
This idea matters because it reveals that Arkoun does not want to replace one certainty with another, but rather to expand the field of inquiry. It also helps the reader understand that his critique of fundamentalism is tied to a critique of the narrowness of modern thought. In this way, the third rationality appears as a proposal at the level of how to view both human beings and knowledge together.
Brief Evidence
The text defends the idea that the age of globalization imposes an epistemic horizon that cannot be limited to confronting religion with science, or science with religion. What is meant is a broader rationality that engages with the complexity of reality and prevents reducing human beings to either one of the two domains alone. This appeal thus appears as a search for a way of seeing that combines critical understanding with a sense of meaning, rather than merely remaining within the limits of the old separation.
Reading Questions
- How does the text understand the relationship between science and religion: as a conflict, or as two domains that require moving beyond the binary?
- Is “the third rationality” a final solution, or an attempt to open a broader horizon of understanding?
Degree of Documentation
High: the claim appears in a clear location within the book’s material.