Secular moral action rests on now-discredited magic-and-religion contrasts.

Evidence

But anthropologists in the twentieth century have problematized the concept of “magic,” and, more recently, of “religion.” There are also good reasons to be skeptical of the sharp opposition between the realm of nature and that of society. Historians, sociologists, and philosophers have now given us a deeper understanding of the ways in which the realm of nature is dependent on and even replicates human activity. In short: if our understanding of “moral action” is formed in contrast to certain ideas of “magic” and “religion,” can it remain unaffected when the latter are shown to be outmoded? — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 462 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Secular-liberal fear of public religion rests on an assumed moral superiority.; Discrediting the magic-religion binary should destabilize secular moral theory. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 462; The religious and secular are not essentially fixed categories. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 103

Broader Connections

• Discrediting the magic-religion binary should destabilize secular moral theory. #expands (0.95) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 462