Lombaard's categorical invitation for minority dissent against 'suspicion': How real is the 'religious' in post-secular context?

Abstract

In the broader context of post-secularism and Lombaard’s contributions, needful of philosophy, this minority report lights upon an analytic–post-secular crossover. Here, responding to Lombaard’s categorical quest for the ‘religious’, philosophy serves to support greater realism in the discourse of the philosophy/sociology of religion so that we might better consider social, spiritual and philosophical capital. By small means, focusing on ontological, relational, democratic, psychological, social and analytic features of the humble category, it is suggested that an attitude of mitigated realism serves best in relief from suspicious theoretical pasts.

Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article attempts to demonstrate how post-secular categories like that of the ‘religious’ are enriched in post-analytic engagement with European philosophy and what this might require of theory.