%0 Journal Article %T The Souls Of Europe %A Govert J. Buijs %J Limes. Cultural Regionalistics %@ 2029-0209 %D 2009 %I %R 10.3846/2029-0187.2009.2.126-139 %X How should Europe deal politically with its legacy as a so-called "Christian civilization"? Should this imply an overt reference to God or to the Christian or Judeo-Christian tradition in European constitutional documents (as was debated when the so-called "Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe" was tabled)? This debate raised the old "politico-theological problem": does a political order need some kind of metaphysical or religious grounding, a "soul", or can it present itself as a purely rational order, the result of a utilitarian calculus? In this article it is argued that the secular idea of the state as an inherent element in the "Judeo-Christian tradition", for a "divine state" usurps a place that is only God's. So, this religious tradition itself calls for a secular state, and this inherent relationship between religion and secularity has become a key element for the interpretation of European civilization, most notably in the idea of a separation of the church and the state. But the very fact that this is a religious idea does imply that the European political order cannot be seen as a purely rational political order without a soul. The idea of a "plural soul" is proposed as a way out of the dilemma. %K Europe %K European civilization %K Judeo-Christian tradition %K political order %K religion %K secularity %U http://versita.metapress.com/content/y7551334u35ux0g8/?p=067be42915544edd8a49efccd2216a38&pi=3