I disagree with Professor Brighouse’s view that “children from secular homes cannot become autonomous without an appreciation of what the religious life involves”. Study of religion might be a valid curriculum option but is no more indispensable to autonomy than business studies or modern languages. To suggest otherwise is itself a form of fundamentalism where the religious experience is treated as always and inevitably a serious candidate for the grounding of our moral judgments.

John Quicke, Hon. Professor, School of Education, Sheffield University.