Workshop held by the Lichtenberg-Kolleg: Religion in the Modern Period

A lecture open to the public on the „Future Possibilities of Christianity“

Are normative basic concepts of modern European history, such as human dignity, individuality or tolerance, secular forms originally of Christian tradition or are they qualitative characteristics of a self-asserting human rationality? This question was the focus of the interdisciplinary workshop „Secularisation and Secular Remainders“ for which external researchers met. They had been invited to this event held on January 25-26, 2008 by a Göttingen research group comprised of theologists, legal experts, philosophers and religion sociologists.



Prof. Dr. Thomas Kaufmann, scientist at the Faculty of Theology and one of the initiators of the event: „In different disciplines of humanities and social sciences the concept of ,secularisation` is understood as the central category of self-description of the so-called `West` and often serves to mark the boundary from the Islamic world in public discussion. There is no clarity at all, however, on coherence and operationalizability." In this sense, the workshop participants pursued the question of whether or not the arise of a neutral state can be valued as a process of secularisation. Additional lectures addressed norm setting in ethics without God, the religion of the individual or `culture` as a secular remainder under constitutional law.

The Göttingen scientists discussed their research approaches with distinguished experts of other research institutes who had emerged in the past years with noteworthy contributions to the debate on secularisation. In a lecture open to the public, Prof. Dr. Hans Joas spoke on the „Future Possibilities of Christianity“. The sociologist directs the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt and is a permanent member of the "Committee on Social Thought" at the University of Chicago (USA).

With the Lichtenberg-Kolleg, the Georgia Augusta aims to identify and promote important research ideas and activities in the humanities and social sciences in cooperation with leading international scientists and scholars. In accordance with the „traditional“ idea of the Kolleg, the Lichtenberg-Kolleg gives excellent researchers the possibility to concentrate solely on their research, exchange ideas and cooperate with other researchers in their field or on an interdisciplinary level.