Burdensome Discourse: on the inclusion of religious participants in Habermas's new thought experiment

Abstract

In this paper, the author discusses Jürgen Habermas’s new thought experiment about the place of religion in the public sphere. The thought experiment is placed in the debate about the place of religion in the public sphere. Thorough analysis shows the valuable insights offered by Habermas in the thought experiment, as well as several issues with the burdens placed on the shoulders of religious participants. The author argues that proper inclusion of religious participants is still lacking, even though the translation proviso is shown to hold much potential. The author also gives several suggestions for further research.