This paper tries to show to what extent it is possible to make the democratic germs inherent to the arab-muslim tradition fruitful. To this effect, a double scheme is employed. The author argues first in favour of a re-appropriation of a particular Western legacy now largely occulted, that is, the Roman Republic. Then, she defends a specific vision of postmodern democracy as it appears, more or less explicitly, in some of John Rawls’ and Jurgen habermas’ writings. It appears, then, that inasmuch as some key concepts are amended and thick-skinned prejudices dismissed, it will be possible to highlight the conditions and compromises necessary for muslims to contribute to the building of a global concept of democracy.
Résumé On a coutume de reprocher au libéralisme une indifférence coupable à l’égard des minorités. La question de l’octroi de droits collectifs cristallise, à cet égard, un certain nombre d’analyses dont il est intéressant de remarquer qu’elles ne se donnent pas toujours les moyens théoriques de leur positionnement politique. De ce point de vue, le libéralisme de John Rawls semble être, assez paradoxalement, le mieux placé pour rendre justice aux minorités, entre le juridisme d’un Jürgen Habermas et les positions multiculturalistes de Charles Taylor et de Will Kymlicka. Telles sont les tensions conceptuelles qu’examine cet article aux fins d’aboutir à une nouvelle définition de la tolérance.
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