Freedom With Religions

Freedom with Religions offers a new interpretation of Rawls’s political liberalism, aiming to reconcile this framework with the profound forms of religious pluralism that characterize contemporary democracies. Rather than aligning with either the traditional defenders or the radical critics of Rawls’s project, the book charts a middle path—one that reaffirms the core commitments of political liberalism while expanding its capacity to accommodate religion and religious identities.

At the heart of this approach lies political inclusivism: a normative framework that remains faithful to the principles of public reason, yet moves beyond standard interpretations to better reflect the lived experiences of religious citizens. Building on this foundation, the book introduces the notion of a culture of civility: a socially embedded complement to the duty of civility that helps bridge the gap between public justification and the ethical life of civil society. These innovations aim not only to reinterpret Rawls’s theory but also to articulate a broader and more inclusive vision of the liberal democratic ethos.

This book will be of particular interest to postgraduate students and scholars in political theory, philosophy, sociology of religion, and the social sciences more broadly. It will also appeal to policymakers and practitioners engaged in anti-discrimination efforts and interfaith dialogue in pluralist democracies.

Author Biography

Valentina Gentile is Associate Professor of Political Philosophy at LUISS University of Rome. She is Editor-in-Chief of Philosophy and Public Issues (FQP/PPI). She specializes in normative political philosophy, liberal theory, and especially the work of John Rawls. Her research explores core Rawlsian themes such as moral stability, pluralism, reciprocity, toleration, and civility, and extends this framework to transitional justice, intergenerational justice, and the role of religion in democratic societies. She is also interested in the intersections between ethics and business. Her work has appeared in several peer-reviewed journals, including International Theory, Journal of Social Philosophy, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, Global Policy Journal, and Philosophia. She is the author of From Identity Conflicts to Civil Society (Luiss University Press, 2013) and co-editor of Rawls and Religion (Columbia University Press, 2015), Spaces of Tolerance (Routledge, 2020), and The Ethics of ESG (Cambridge University Press, 2026).