Secularism defines private reason as entitlement to difference, not private space.

Evidence

If secularism as a doctrine requires the distinction between private reason and public principle, it also demands the placing of the “religious” in the former by “the secular.” Private reason is not the same as private space; it is the entitlement to difference, the immunity from the force of public reason. So theoretical and practical problems remain that call for each of these categories to be defined. What makes a discourse and an action “religious” or “secular”? — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 43

Categorization

• DEFINE: Asad distinguishes private reason from private space—private reason as immunity from public reason’s force—a precise redefinition central to the Cooper bridge.
• XREF: Directly parallels Cooper’s point that ‘secular’ neutrality quietly encodes Christian norms; both ask who gets placed in the private.
• QUESTION: Who holds ‘authoritative’ power to allocate religious vs. secular, per Asad’s own later question? This category-question frames the whole chapter.