The idea
Arkoun calls on traditional religious institutions to open themselves to the human and social sciences, because religious knowledge, in his view, is not enough on its own to understand human beings, society, and history. This opening does not mean abolishing tradition, but rather removing it from the isolation that confines it within a closed internal language. Modern knowledge is used here to expand the questions of understanding, not to replace them.
Concise formulation
Traditional religious institutions: they should open themselves to the human and social sciences
Its place in the book’s argument
This claim appears within a broader argument that seeks to reform the religious field from within by restoring its link to society and modern knowledge. Its position is not marginal; rather, it is part of Arkoun’s vision of how stagnation can be overcome: there can be no reform without new tools for reading, and no renewal without breaking institutional closure. That is why the book connects opening tradition to the human sciences with the possibility of revising the authority of tradition.
Why it matters
The importance of this claim lies in the fact that it shows that Arkoun is not asking for a merely formal modernization of religious institutions, but for a change in the horizon of knowledge itself. It also explains why he insists that religious thought needs tools that help it understand human beings as they are, not as they are portrayed by inherited traditions alone. In this way, scientific openness becomes part of the meaning of reform.
Reading questions
- How does Arkoun understand the relationship between the human sciences and religious tradition?
- For him, is openness to modern knowledge a means of understanding or a condition for reform?