Dr. Marilie Coetsee

Assistant Professor of Philosophy
616.395.7550coetsee@hope.edu
Profile photo of Dr. Marilie Coetsee

Dr. Coetsee writes and teaches in the areas of social and political philosophy. She examines how citizens should navigate important political disagreements, and focuses in particular on the obligations that pertain to religious citizens when they engage with secular interlocutors. Are we obligated to reconsider our controversial beliefs in the face of political disagreement? When and to what extent must we empathize with those who hold opposing, perhaps problematic, views?  Should laws be supported by justifications that citizens from a variety of religious and philosophical worldviews can reasonably be expected to accept? Dr. Coetsee鈥檚 inquiries about these questions lead her to do research in the philosophy of religion, epistemology, and moral psychology. She is also interested in the duties democratic societies have to engage with illiberal citizens, and in Islamic ethics and political philosophy.

Dr. Coetsee鈥檚 articles appear in variety of journals, including Oxford Studies in Metaethics, Philosophy and Social Criticism, Islamic Law and Society, and the International Journal for Philosophy of Religion. She is under contract with Routledge to publish Does Faith Belong in Politics? Religious Participation in Pluralistic Polities

She joined the Department of Philosophy in 2023. 

AREAS OF Expertise

  • Religion and politics
  • Social and political philosophy
  • Political epistemology
  • Philosophy of religion

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D., philosophy, Rutgers University, 2018
  • M.A., religious studies, Rutgers University, 2019
  • M.A., philosophy, Stanford University, 2011
  • B.A., philosophy and religious studies, Stanford University, 2010

HONORS, GRANTS & AWARDS

  • Religion and Democracy,鈥 Notre Dame University Center for Philosophy of Religion research fellowship, 2024-2025

Selected Publications

  • 鈥淎gainst Insular Political Liberalism: Sayyid Qutb, Illiberal Islam, and the Forceless Force of the Better Argument,鈥 Philosophy and Social Criticism, forthcoming (online first ).
  • 鈥淥n the Reasonability of Reasoning with the Religious Unreasonable,鈥 Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2023
  • 鈥淭he Problem of Evil and the Pauline Principle: Consent, Logical Constraints, and Free Will,鈥 Religions, 2023
  • 鈥淭he Moral Duty Against Dogmatism,鈥 Journal of Ethics, 2022
  • 鈥淐onsensus, Convergence, and Covid-19: The Role of Religion in Leaders鈥 Responses to Covid-19,鈥 Leadership, 2022
  • 鈥淭he Phenomenal Appreciation of Reasons,鈥 Oxford Studies in Metaethics, 2020

Outside the College

In her free time, Dr. Coetsee enjoys reading theology, participating in church activities, running at Lake Michigan beaches, and playing flute and piano.

Profile photo of Dr. Marilie Coetsee
Dr. Marilie Coetsee

Phone Number616.395.7550

Lubbers Hall Room 211 126 East 10th Street Holland, MI 49423
Lubbers Hall Room 211 126 East 10th Street Holland MI 49423