The years 1870 to 1920 saw an extraordinary efflorescence of English historical writing, dominated by historians who were committed members of the Church of England, many of them in holy orders. At a time when both history and religion were central to cultural life, when history was becoming a modern academic discipline, and when the relationship between Christianity and advanced knowledge was under unprecedented scrutiny, this was a phenomenon of considerable intellectual significance. To understand why this came about, it is necessary to understand the intellectual and institutional conditions in the Church of England at the time. The Oxford Movement and the rise of incarnational theology had drawn Anglicans in ever greater numbers towards the study of the past. At the same time, it was still widely held that the Church of England should be a ‘learned church’: it therefore encouraged scholarship, sacred and secular, amongst its laity and clergy. The result was to produce historians who approached the past with a new set of priorities. The history of the English nation and its constitution was rewritten to show that the church – and especially the medieval church – was the originator and guarantor of modern nationality and liberty. Attitudes to the Reformation shifted from the celebratory to the sceptical, or even the downright hostile. Economic historians even came to see the Reformation as a social revolution – as the origin of modern poverty or capitalism. New and distinctive ideas about progress and divine providence were developed and articulated. Most of all, an examination of Anglican historical scholarship shows the continued vitality of the Church of England and the limitations to the idea that intellectual life was secularised over the course of the nineteenth century. Instead, historiography continued to be shaped by Anglican thought and institutions at this critical stage in its development.

台灣的大學院校中，有近十分之一的學校具有基督宗教的傳統，他們或由宗教團體創辦，或由基督徒個人所辦理，這些具有宗教背景的院校在創辦過程中因台灣社會的特殊政經情勢，而面臨不同的挑戰，聖約翰科技大學(前新埔工專)亦為其中一所，該校於一九六七年創辦，當時為這些教會學校中唯一的工業專科學校，至今仍為科技導向的唯一大學，因此本文乃以社會學家韋伯(Weber,Max )論及《宗教拒世的階段與方向》中，宗教與世俗世界的衝突的本質性分析，探討該校在創辦歷程中，所遭遇的挑戰，以理解宗教與政治、經濟、知性在教育的場域中，所呈現的衝突與妥協的關係，以及行動者以如何的行動倫理承擔宗教與世俗之間的張力。 該校乃由台灣聖公會主導創辦，並由上海聖約翰大學、聖瑪利亞女校在台校友協助辦理，本文先追溯聖公會在中國大陸的教育事業發展，後詳述該校從倡議至創建後五年為止的過程，以及該校所形塑的學生人格教育、教學特色與宗教教育發展，最後論及創辦該校對台灣聖公會的影響，以上資料均由歷史文獻及與相關人士訪談蒐集之。 研究顯示，宗教團體透過教育機構來宣揚教義與接觸民眾，是基於知性的認知活動與宗教的內在意義上有相當的相似性而起，但教育機構自成立後，就會發展出自行運作的法則，追求有利於自身發展的知性追求與組織架構，不斷生產出擁護世俗價值的校友與由校友獲取的現世利益，並且回饋到學校自身，且宗教團體辦校因威脅民族自尊與神格化的政治領袖，而國家也試圖透過軍訓管理的手段掌控教育機構，宗教遂成為政治的競爭者。由於學校成為獲利並強化世俗價值的工具，違背了宗教遠離世俗財富的原則，學校經費來源逐漸依賴於學費與校友的捐款，也讓學校以基於供需原則的經濟理性為思考，以上均取代了宗教的建立普遍性同胞愛關係的原則，於是產生衝突。 然而教育機構自成立後，便透過校友的回饋形成自給自足的固有法則，為延續其生命而努力，而宗教面臨以暴力為後盾的政治力量也必須歸順之，同時若沒有配合政府的經濟發展的需要及校友的資金投入，宗教團體也無法繼續擁有一個穩定的宣教場域，因此宗教必須妥協於教育、政治、經濟的力量，才得以存活。 / About one-tenth of universities in Taiwan have a Christianity background; they are established by religious groups or individuals. These religious schools face different challenges at founding due to the distinctive social, economical and political status of Taiwan. St. John’s University (Former Hsin-Pu College of Technology) is one of these schools. It was founded in 1967 and till now it is still the only university of technology founded by religious groups. With the basis of the sociologist, Weber, Max’s theory and “Religious Rejections of the World and Their Directions", this article inspects the obstacles this school has met at its founding stage due to the conflicts between politics and religion, In order to find out the conflict and compromise relationship of religious, political, economic, and cognitive aspects in the education field and how action takers bear religious and secular based tensions by taking ethical actions. Hsin-Pu College of Technology was founded by Taiwan Episcopal Church with the assistance of Shanghai St. John’s University and St. Mary’s collage alumni in Taiwan. This article first discusses Episcopal Church’s effort in school founding in China, then investigates general and religious education of St. John’s University. Finally, this article probes into the effects of St. John’s establishment on Taiwan Episcopal Church. Data is collected through historical literatures and interviews with related individuals. Research indicates that religious groups, through ways of educational institutions establishment, aims to propagate religion. However, the establishment of education institutions will aid in the development of self-operating principles while in search for cognitive and organization structures beneficial for self-developments. Alumnae that support the secular values continue to be cultivated. Alumnae acquires spiritual or material benefits in this world will also contribute to the school. Moreover, religious groups that have established schools are often viewed as threats to national pride and godhood of political leaders, the government often attempts to monitor education institutions through military management. Religion therefore becomes a rival of politics. Schools become tools of profit and drift away from their original aim to promote religion because they need to meet economical needs which rely on tuitions and donations. After establishment, these religious educational institutions rely on alumni recompense. Also, in order to survive, these religious educational institutions often have to submit to the brute force from the politics. Religious groups cannot ensure stable preaching environments without cooperating with the government’s economic development needs, and funding from alumnae. Thus, religion must find a way to compromise with the force of education, politics, and economy for survival.

En croisant divers événements socio-historiques depuis la moitié du XXe siècle dans l’histoire en ce qui concerne la modernisation des sociétés, il est clair qu’une part importante de l’industrialisation avait pu contribuer l’émergence d’une éducation de masse. Certes, l’individu doit fréquenter un milieu académique, afin de pouvoir vivre convenablement dans une société moderne industrialisée. Le développement des écoles primaires, des écoles secondaires et des milieux académiques aux études supérieures avaient permis à l’individu de s’orienter sur le marché du travail. Ainsi, face à la modernisation des sociétés occidentales, la science et des développements scientifiques avaient eu des impacts majeurs sur l’éducation des enfants. Sur l’aspect de la science, l’enseignement de la religion à l’école devient une interrogation aux chercheurs comme Émile Durkheim, le père fondateur de la sociologie; le projet de la laïcisation scolaire en France est le résultat de l’adaptation d’une institution publique aux valeurs d’une société moderne. En analysant les institutions scolaires de deux sociétés, il s’agit d’appréhender comment elles sont en contrastes en ce qui a trait la place de la religion dans la pédagogie : l’Iran et le Québec. La tradition sociologique oblige aux écrivains d’orienter leurs idées par la construction d’une question de recherche, qui repose sur la conjonction de différents paradigmes. / By crossing various socio-historical events since the mid-twentieth century in history through the modernization of societies, it is clear that an important part of industrialization could have contributed to the emergence of mass education. Admittedly, the individual must attend an academic environment in order to be able to live adequately in a modern industrialized society. Thus, faced with the modernization of Western societies, science and scientific developments had major impacts on the education of children. On the aspect of science, the teaching of religion at school becomes an interrogation to researchers like Émile Durkheim, the ''father of sociology''; The project of secularization in France is the result of the adaptation of a public institution to the values ​​of a modern society. In analyzing the educational institutions of two societies, it is a question of apprehending how they are in contrasts concerning the place of religion in the pedagogy: Iran and Quebec. The sociological tradition obliges writers to orient their ideas by constructing a question of research, which is based on the conjunction of different paradigms.

The main purpose of the thesis is to investigate the possibility of bridging the dichotomy between Islam and the criteria of modern society by means of reinterpreting the principles (foundations) of Islam. The reformists Abdolkarim Soroush, Sedigheh Vasmaghi and Tariq Ramadan seek to prove that the methods keeping strictly within the boundaries of tradition interpreting the Quran along the lines of previous generations is not necessarily the sole means of coming to an understanding of the Quran’s message. The thesis discusses these reinterpreters’ critique of tradition and their arguments for the possibility of uniting the principles of Islam with the prerequisites of modern society. In conjunction with this, the question whether modern society presupposes a strict division between the private and the public sphere is problematized from a point of departure in Jeffrey Stout’s Democracy and Tradition. The thesis attempts to show potential conceptions of a modern society based on the principles of Islam.

Ancré dans une perspective historique, ce mémoire cherche à mettre en application une relecture de la théorie wébérienne de la « rationalisation éthique » comme facteur explicatif de la reconfiguration moderne du rapport entretenu entre les individus et la religion. Un retour sur les changements survenus dans la pensée religieuse de la Renaissance — pensée mise en contraste avec la situation religieuse des populations du Moyen-Âge — permet de mettre en évidence le passage d’une religion syncrétique, ritualiste et imprégnée de magie, à un christianisme épuré, intériorisé et rationnel. L’étude de la pensée religieuse de l’humaniste Érasme de Rotterdam, pris comme « figure historique » porteuse de cette transformation, pointe vers la diffusion à la Renaissance d’un christianisme compris comme système philosophique compréhensif dépouillé de son caractère mystique. Cette diffusion d’un « esprit » chrétien, et l’importance accordée à la mise en œuvre d’une conduite de vie méthodique spécifiquement orientée vers le salut, participe au premier chef d’un processus de « quotidianisation » du charisme religieux, prélude essentiel, dans une perspective wébérienne, à la « rationalisation éthique » et à l’autonomisation de la sphère religieuse dans la vie sociale. / By way of a historical perspective, this masters thesis aims to reconsider the weberian “ethical rationalization” theory as an explanatory factor for the modern transformation of the relationship between individuals and religion. Reviewing the changes in Renaissance religious thought—and contrasting it with the Medieval religious context—enables us to uncover a shift from a syncretic and ritualized religion that is filled with magical elements, towards an uncluttered, internalized and rational Christianity. The focus on Erasmus of Rotterdam’s religious humanist thought—considered here as a “historical figure” and carrier of these transformations—brings light on how Christianity was stripped of its mystical aspects and came to be understood as a comprehensive philosophical system. The dissemination of such a Christian “spirit”, as well as the importance granted to a methodical way of life specifically oriented towards salvation, play a key role in the appearance of a “quotidian ritualization” of religious charisma, which is in itself, according to Weber, an essential preliminary to an “ethical rationalization” and thus to the “autonomization” of the religious sphere in the social life.

L’objectif central du présent mémoire consiste à interroger les implications générales de l’interprétation taylorienne de la sécularisation, telle que déployée dans ‘A Secular Age’ (2007), pour la philosophie de la religion. Nous soutenons que l’approche herméneutique de notre auteur, reposant sur son anthropologie philosophique, a pour effet d’arrimer de façon indissociable et originale le problème de la sécularisation avec le questionnement philosophique sur la religion. À cet effet, nous présentons la critique du naturalisme déployée par Taylor ainsi que les grandes lignes de sa ‘dialectique’ afin de clarifier l’orientation générale de sa démarche. Nous passons ensuite à une analyse de son interprétation de la sécularisation ainsi que des implications de cette dernière pour les questions constitutives de la philosophie de la religion, touchant notamment la nature de la religion, le statut épistémologique des croyances religieuses, les rapports entre foi et raison ainsi que la relation entre la religion et la science moderne. Nous terminons sur un ton plus critique en interrogeant le ‘réalisme métaéthique’ de notre auteur et en soutenant que sa position pourrait constituer la base d’un ‘récit soustractif’ plus robuste et pénétrant. / The central aim of this work is to assess the most general implications of the interpretation of secularization by Charles Taylor, as it is deployed in ‘A Secular Age’ (2007), for the domain of philosophy of religion. We argue that the hermeneutical approach of Taylor, resting on his philosophical anthropology, binds together in an original and indivisible fashion the problem of secularization and the philosophical reflection on religion. To this effect, I describe his critique of naturalism and the broad lines of his ‘dialectic’ in order to clarify the general orientation of his work. I then move to an analysis of his interpretation of secularization and its implications for the constitutive questions in philosophy of religion, notably regarding the nature of religion, the epistemological status of religious beliefs, the relations between faith and reason as well as between religion and modern science. I conclude on a more critical note with an examination of the ‘metaethical realism’ of our author and by showing that his position might best be understood as the basis for a deepened and reinforced ‘subtraction story’.

This essay is an analysis of Brian Wood's Viking epic Northlanders, published by Vertigo/DC between the years of 2007-2012. The aim is to identify how Old Norse faith and Christianity are portrayed. This is done by using the theory of representation as developed by Stuart Hall and putting them into the historical context of a postmodern, secular western world of thought. The research shows a wide variety of religiosity in both Norse and Christian characters. Some common trends have been identified though, and these are a general appreciation of physical strength within the Norse religion and a general tendency in Norse religion to explain natural phenomena and to have fatalistic leanings while Christianity rather seeks to offer comfort in times of need. The results also show that one of the greater roles Christianity plays in Northlanders is contributing to, or sometimes forcing a societal change, while the practitioners of the Norse faith tend to lean toward stability. There is also a tendency to present the northerners as outcasts, while the Christian counterparts are part of an establishment.

Le présent mémoire porte sur la question de la mort de Dieu dans la philosophie allemande du XIXe siècle. Plus précisément elle entend mettre en lumière le rôle qu’un auteur comme Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872) a pu jouer dans la réception d’un tel événement pour la philosophie de cette époque. On observe en effet chez Hegel et Nietzsche, certainement les deux philosophes les plus importants à s’être intéressés au thème de la mort de Dieu, deux manières tout à fait différentes, voire antinomiques, d’interpréter un tel événement. Ce qui fera dire à certains auteurs comme Deleuze et Foucault notamment, qu’entre Hegel et Nietzsche il ne saurait y avoir qu’une coupure radicale tant leurs compréhensions de la mort de Dieu diffère. Un tel geste trahit cependant un certain arbitraire qui empêche de comprendre la genèse philosophique d’un tel déplacement, entre Hegel et Nietzsche, dans la manière d’aborder la mort de Dieu. C’est ici que l’étude de la philosophie feuerbachienne s’avère fructueuse, car si elle demeure dans un dialogue critique par rapport à la conception hégélienne de la mort de Dieu, sa réponse opère cependant un déplacement qui anticipe certains aspects de la pensée nietzschéenne. C’est à partir de l’analyse de sa critique de la religion chrétienne et de l’anthropologie philosophique nouvelle qui l’y oppose que l’on sera en mesure de saisir la nature de ce déplacement feuerbachien. / This Master’s Thesis focuses on the topic of the death of God in the nineteenth century German philosophy. More specifically, it highlights the role played by Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872) in the development of this problematic, i.e. his influence on the way this decisive “death” has been interpreted philosophically. The two major philosophical figures who have reflected on the death of God, namely Hegel and Nietzsche, have done so in very different, some would say antinomian, ways. Authors such as Deleuze or Foucault have even argued that between Hegel’s and Nietzsche’s way of addressing the question of the death of God there can be no common ground, but only an irrevocable clash. Unfortunately, such a statement forbids further investigations enabling a more rigorous understanding of the philosophical development that occurs between Hegel and Nietzsche on that specific topic, that is, on the death of God in nineteenth century German philosophy. Here, I shall argue, the study of Ludwig Feuerbach’s thought becomes essential to such an understanding, since it develops a critical dialogue with Hegel’s stance on the death of God, while at the same time anticipating some aspects of Nietzsche’s approach to the problem of the death of God.

Ce mémoire porte sur le problème de la légitimité de revendications émanant de multiples sources d’autorité (morales, politiques et légales). L’histoire conceptuelle du pluralisme montre que les significations qui lui sont attribuées sont à la fois contingentes et hétéroclites, leurs traductions en pratique étant loin d’être évidentes. Notre principal objectif est de remettre en question l’hypothèse selon laquelle l’approche de Charles Taylor est pluraliste. Si la reconnaissance d’une pluralité de biens joue un rôle fondamental dans la philosophie de Taylor, il est néanmoins nécessaire de montrer l’important clivage existant entre, d’une part, le fait d’accepter que nos conflits de valeurs soient souvent irréconciliables et, d’autre part, la volonté de trouver un moyen de mettre en harmonie des finalités concurrentes. Au terme de notre enquête, nous espérons mettre en lumière l’écart que nous constatons entre les questions reliées à la différence culturelle et les problèmes posés par des revendications d’autorité formulées par des associations formelles. / This dissertation explores the problem of the legitimacy of claims that emanate from multiple sources of authority (moral, political and legal). Often, in political philosophy, one encounters claims on behalf of pluralism, yet there is anything but a consensus over the meaning of this fundamental concept. Charles Taylor is a philosopher who is often referred to as a pluralist, but I shall argue that this is a mistake. By way of a foray into different domains of practical reason, this study suggests that the gap between issues concerning cultural difference and pluralist claims to authority is obscured and obliterated in Taylor’s work. One of the central goals of his philosophy is that of reconciling competing aims and ends and this is incompatible with pluralism.

Les sociétés musulmanes se sont engagées dans un processus de sécularisation qui reste encore mal assumé ou mal reconnu. Cette thèse s'attache à étudier comment les penseurs musulmans contemporains trouvent ou élaborent des systèmes de pensée qui permettent de penser cette sécularisation. La séparation du politique et du religieux reste encore ancrée dans un dogmatisme religieux que les auteurs présentés tentent d'abattre à travers divers stratagèmes intellectuels. La typologie mise en place dans ce sens permet de mieux cerner les différentes approches : historique, littéraire, épistémologique et rationnelle. Des thèmes sont ensuite abordés qui présentent de véritables enjeux pour la sécularisation et qui en sont une rude mise à l'épreuve. L'Iran et la Turquie sont les deux modèles pratiques choisis afin d'interroger ce processus de sécularisation au sein des sociétés musulmanes / The Muslim societies got involved in a process of secularization which remains still badly taken or badly acknowledged. This thesis sets out to be studying how the contemporary Muslim thinkers find or work out systems of thought which allow to think of this secularization.Separation of policy and religion still anchored in a religious dogmatism which the introduced authors try to slaughter across various intellectual stratagems. Typography set up in this sense allows to surround different approaches : historical, literary, epistemology and rationnel.Topics are then approached which introduce true stakes for secularization and which are a hard bet in test. Iran and Turkey are both practical models chosen to question this process of secularization within the Muslim societies.