Professors Fish and Markovits Open Law and Religion Series with Debate on Democracy, Diversity, and Disagreement

Professors Stanley Fish and Daniel Markovits ’00 will debate “Democracy, Diversity, and Disagreement” in the first in a series of workshops this semester on Debating Law & Religion. The debate takes place Wednesday, Sept. 14, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Room 129. It is free and open to the public, with lunch provided.

Professor Fish is a Visiting Professor of Law and Oscar M. Ruebhausen Distinguished Senior Fellow at Yale Law School, and Professor Markovits is the Guido Calabresi Professor of Law. They will debate the nature and scope of religious tolerance in the face of increasing diversification of society. Among other things, they’ll consider whether the liberal democratic state is directed narrowly at preventing conflict or more substantively towards fostering a common vision of the good life; if tolerance is merely a rhetorical device that allows the state to appear beneficent even while excluding many non-liberal ways of life from public recognition; and where the line lies between acceptable private behavior and intolerable public action.

For readings on the debate's topic, email debatinglaw.religion@gmail.com. 

Launched in spring 2011 and sponsored by the Dean’s Office, “Debating Law & Religion” is a monthly series of lectures at Yale Law School aimed at creating a formal forum to voice and debate diverse views on a broad range of issues relating to law and religion.