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Philosophical Analysis as a Pathway to Progress: From the Burqa to the Emperor’s New Clothes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2021

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Summary

Abstract

This chapter homes in on a subset of questions and challenges in connection with the 2018 Danish “burqa ban”. These concern the primary assumptions, as made by the Danish MPs cum legislators (Danish MPs/legislators). Apart from a general commentary (in section 2 ), one of the purposes is to connect religious and political factors with a philosophical analysis of materialism and idealism, as espoused and/or opposed by thinkers like Feuerbach, Hegel, Marx, and Engels. The comparison is developed in section 3, where the author also endeavors to show how philosophical analysis can be a pathway to progress, if perhaps only indirectly. In particular, if policy-makers consider the deeper layers of thought, at least those that are of relevance to the discussion for and against the burqa ban, some important nuances may present themselves; nuances that count as insights that should not be missed. The insights that are applicable help to clarify the various culture clashes involved in the burqa ban dispute. A parallel to Hans Christian Andersen is also made to incorporate insights from a Danish writer and thinker who, in one sense, was ahead of the debate and dispute.

INTRODUCTION: THE SUPERFICIAL AND THE FOUNDATIONAL

This chapter is divided into three sections. Section 2 provides a general commentary of the primary assumptions of the Danish MPs cum legislators (Danish MPs/legislators) responsible for the so-called burqa ban, i.e. law L 219 (cf.§134 c. which is the 2018 provision for the prohibitive measure). While the term “superficial’ – as used in the subtitle of this section – refers to that which is apparent and, eo ipso, to the matter-of-factly given assumptions (which may and may not be true), the foundational approach goes further. More precisely, it extends to that which is arguably involved in assumptions that give rise to questions and challenges – if examined at the deep theory level, that is, conceptually, comparatively, and critically. With religion as a central factor, this not only entails a philosophical analysis of notions and phenomena like religious alienation, but also a comparison of the positions that are specifically geared toward (the establishment of) explanatory frameworks, namely idealism and materialism.

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Law, Cultural Studies and the 'Burqa Ban' Trend
An Interdisciplinary Handbook
, pp. 55 - 80
Publisher: Intersentia
Print publication year: 2021

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