Religion and the Demise of Liberal Rationalism: The Foundational Crisis of the Separation of Church and State - Hardcover

Owen, J. Judd

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226641910 ISBN 13: 9780226641911

Verlag: UNIV OF CHICAGO PR, 2001

Inhaltsangabe

If liberalism is premised on inclusion, pluralism, and religious neutrality, can the separation of church and state be said to have a unitary and rational foundation? If we accept that there are no self-evident principles of morality or politics, then doesn't any belief in a rational society become a sort of faith? And how can liberalism mediate impartially between various faiths--as it aims to do--if liberalism itself is one of the competing faiths?

J. Judd Owen answers these questions with a remarkable critical analysis of four twentieth-century liberal and postliberal thinkers: John Dewey, John Rawls and, most extensively, Richard Rorty and Stanley Fish. His unique readings of these theorists and their approaches to religion lead him to conclusions that are meticulously constructed and surprising, arguing against the perception of liberalism as simple moral or religious neutrality, calling into question the prevailing justifications for separation of church and state, and challenging the way we think about the very basis of constitutional government.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

J. Judd Owen is an assistant professor of political science at Emory University.

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At the same time that dissatisfaction with the shape of church/state relations is on the rise, liberalism is witnessing ever-spreading postmodern skepticism regarding the theoretical soundness of its core principles. What doe these two tends have to do with each other? Potentially a great deal, according to J. Judd Owen, who contends that the liberal posture to religion cannot be divorced from, but rather lies at the deepest level of, the serious questions confronting liberalism's original rationalist basis.

Through a careful critique of Richard Rorty, John Rawls, and Stanely Fish, Owen argues that today's "post-rational" liberalisms can only evade or obscure, but cannot resolve, liberalism's perennial difficult with religion. Yet by politically fostering an indifference to question of religious truth, liberal rationalsim itself shares balme for its present crisis. Antifoundationalism is thus not a radical alternative to liberal rationalism, but its unintended byproduct.

Presenting an original map of the current landscape of political thought, Owen's provocative book cuts across politcal science, philosophy, religion, and constitutional theory.

Aus dem Klappentext

At the same time that dissatisfaction with the shape of church/state relations is on the rise, liberalism is witnessing ever-spreading postmodern skepticism regarding the theoretical soundness of its core principles. What doe these two tends have to do with each other? Potentially a great deal, according to J. Judd Owen, who contends that the liberal posture to religion cannot be divorced from, but rather lies at the deepest level of, the serious questions confronting liberalism's original rationalist basis.

Through a careful critique of Richard Rorty, John Rawls, and Stanely Fish, Owen argues that today's "post-rational" liberalisms can only evade or obscure, but cannot resolve, liberalism's perennial difficult with religion. Yet by politically fostering an indifference to question of religious truth, liberal rationalsim itself shares balme for its present crisis. Antifoundationalism is thus not a radical alternative to liberal rationalism, but its unintended byproduct.

Presenting an original map of the current landscape of political thought, Owen's provocative book cuts across politcal science, philosophy, religion, and constitutional theory.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: UNIV OF CHICAGO PR
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2001
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0226641910
• ISBN 13: 9780226641911
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 218
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: The University of Chicago Press; https://press.uchicago.edu/index.html; ; 5801 S. Ellis Avenue; Chicago; IL; 60637; USA
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar