Conflicting Conceptions of Religious Pluralism: Liberalism and Multiculturalism in Diverse Democracies

Although nascent concepts of religious pluralism can be found in pre-modern texts, for example in certain interpretations of Aristotle, the idea came into its own primarily in modern times under the influence of both Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment thought. From the Enlightenment perspective, pluralism is defined in the political writings of John Locke (2003), Immanuel Kant (1997, 2002), John Stuart Mill (1977), and John Rawls (1971, 1993) as a by-product of rational autonomy. In this view, the liberal right of people to exercise rational choice concerning how to live takes precedence over any particular life choices they may make.