The Idea
Arkoun argues that the crisis does not lie in fundamentalism alone; it also extends to a modernity that has lost its balance when it has slipped into sheer materialism or scientism. Reform is therefore not presented as replacing one pole with another, but as a double review that reveals what is corrupted by both religious closure and incomplete modernization.
Concise Formulation
Arkoun: directs: a double critique of fundamentalism and deviant modernity
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This claim lies at the heart of the argument because it prevents the reader from understanding the book as a defense of a simple modernity against religiosity. The intention is broader than that: to diagnose two opposing distortions that together impose a reconsideration of the conditions of knowledge and religious life. In this form, critique becomes a path toward understanding the impasse, not merely an indictment of a single current.
Why It Matters
The importance of this claim lies in the fact that it places Arkoun outside the easy opposition between tradition and modernity. Rather than treating modernity as an instant remedy, he asks us to distinguish between its strengths and its distortions. This helps us understand his project as a search for a broader horizon for thought, not as a limited protest stance.
Brief Evidence
Arkoun argues that the crisis does not lie in fundamentalism alone; it also extends to a modernity that has lost its balance when it has slipped into sheer materialism or scientism. Reform is therefore not presented as replacing one pole with another, but as a double review that reveals what is corrupted by both religious closure and incomplete modernization. The critique is thus directed at both paths when they lose the capacity for balance.
Reading Questions
- How does this double critique change the way we read the relationship between religion and modernity?
- Does Arkoun criticize modernity from outside it, or from within its own questions and impasses?
Level of Documentation
High: the claim appears in a clear location in the book’s material.