A Europe still questioning its roots

What if Europe lay in the antagonism born of the Renaissance between the Christian and scientific worldviews? This opposition has always been present in different forms at different times. Today, it has taken on a new dimension: some argue that a materialistic reading of the world is now impossible, given current physical theories.

What is Europe? Faced with this question, some are quick to point to its Christian roots, while many are uncomfortable with this reference, preferring humanism or the Enlightenment. Added to this is the fact that certain atheistic thinkers of the 19th and 20th centuries seem indissociable from the European heritage. On the face of it, then, there is no such thing as the European spirit.

This difficulty is mirrored by the impossibility of putting ourselves