What beliefs does a person need to hold to be a fundamentalist? And what triggers the development of these beliefs? More insight into this process will allow us to better control it.
Society today harbours all sorts of fundamentalist movements: radical evangelism, Islamic Wahhabism, Jewish fundamentalism, Hindu ethnonationalism, but also secular variants such as fascism. Fundamentalist groups avoid contact with what they consider to be malicious, modern and sometimes secular developments. They view certain texts as infallible, distrust various branches of science, erect barriers to education and, in rare cases, even commit terrorist attacks. Many fundamentalist groups limit the rights of members of certain communities, religions or races.
Fundamentalism negatively affects the image of religions, especially Islam. An approach based on epistemology and ethics can allow us to better study and assess fundamentalism. Key questions include: what makes beliefs fundamentalist? How do the beliefs of an individual relate to the group to which he/she belongs? And what are the obligations of a fundamentalist? Answering these questions will facilitate the development of a normative theoretical framework that can be used to understood and assess fundamentalism. Previous research shows that people who join fundamentalist groups do so purposefully and on the basis of sincere conviction; they are not ill or suffering from a mental disorder.
Rik Peels received €1.5 million from the European Research Council (ERC) to conduct cross-faculty research into fundamentalism.
