Todd Weir and Hugh McLeod (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266915
- eISBN:
- 9780191938177
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266915.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This volume explores how conflicts between secularist ideologies and religious faiths shaped global history in the twentieth century. The chapters approach the dynamic effects of these struggles by ...
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This volume explores how conflicts between secularist ideologies and religious faiths shaped global history in the twentieth century. The chapters approach the dynamic effects of these struggles by focussing on ‘apologetics’, i.e. the discourses, strategies and institutions deployed by religious and secularist actors on the front lines to articulate the faith and defend against the enemy. From the futurology of HG Wells to Cold War evangelicalism to the contentious negotiations over Islam between Communists and the royal house in 1970s Morocco, apologetics is here revealed to be a key site interaction across ideological boundaries. By bringing the dynamics of religious and secular apologetics into a comparative perspective, with examples drawn from Western Europe, the USSR, the USA, North Africa and Asia, the chapters offer new perspectives on the religious dimension of local and global religious politics between the First World War and the end of the Cold War.Less
This volume explores how conflicts between secularist ideologies and religious faiths shaped global history in the twentieth century. The chapters approach the dynamic effects of these struggles by focussing on ‘apologetics’, i.e. the discourses, strategies and institutions deployed by religious and secularist actors on the front lines to articulate the faith and defend against the enemy. From the futurology of HG Wells to Cold War evangelicalism to the contentious negotiations over Islam between Communists and the royal house in 1970s Morocco, apologetics is here revealed to be a key site interaction across ideological boundaries. By bringing the dynamics of religious and secular apologetics into a comparative perspective, with examples drawn from Western Europe, the USSR, the USA, North Africa and Asia, the chapters offer new perspectives on the religious dimension of local and global religious politics between the First World War and the end of the Cold War.
Timothy Larsen
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199287871
- eISBN:
- 9780191713422
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287871.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
For fifty years or more, a dominant motif in 19th-century British studies has been the Victorian crisis of faith or loss of faith. From Basil Willey to A. N. Wilson, books have been written that ...
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For fifty years or more, a dominant motif in 19th-century British studies has been the Victorian crisis of faith or loss of faith. From Basil Willey to A. N. Wilson, books have been written that recounted the stories of Victorians who lost their faith. This narrative has become so ingrained that it is often the principal theme presented when religion in 19th-century Britain is discussed in general histories, textbooks, and literary studies. Serving as a corrective to that tired and overblown approach, this book uncovers a new pattern: the Victorian crisis of doubt. A whole succession of freethinking or Secularist leaders in 19th-century England reconverted back to Christianity, including figures well known in social, political, and literary studies such as the radical publisher William Hone and the Chartist Thomas Cooper. As sceptics, they had read, written about, and lectured on all the latest ideas that served to undermine faith such as biblical criticism and Darwinism. Nevertheless, they went on to judge that faith was more intellectually compelling than doubt, and to defend Christian thought in their writings, lectures, and public debates with Secularists. They held an honest faith to match the familiar theme of honest doubt. This was a deep crisis in the popular, freethinking movement: again and again leading Secularist lecturers and editors defected from the cause and re-emerged as able opponents. The book explores in detail their reasons for rejecting scepticism and their responses to the intellectual challenges to faith in their day. This study serves not only to correct an exaggerated emphasis on the Victorian crisis of faith, but also to reveal the intellectual strength of Christianity in the 19th century.Less
For fifty years or more, a dominant motif in 19th-century British studies has been the Victorian crisis of faith or loss of faith. From Basil Willey to A. N. Wilson, books have been written that recounted the stories of Victorians who lost their faith. This narrative has become so ingrained that it is often the principal theme presented when religion in 19th-century Britain is discussed in general histories, textbooks, and literary studies. Serving as a corrective to that tired and overblown approach, this book uncovers a new pattern: the Victorian crisis of doubt. A whole succession of freethinking or Secularist leaders in 19th-century England reconverted back to Christianity, including figures well known in social, political, and literary studies such as the radical publisher William Hone and the Chartist Thomas Cooper. As sceptics, they had read, written about, and lectured on all the latest ideas that served to undermine faith such as biblical criticism and Darwinism. Nevertheless, they went on to judge that faith was more intellectually compelling than doubt, and to defend Christian thought in their writings, lectures, and public debates with Secularists. They held an honest faith to match the familiar theme of honest doubt. This was a deep crisis in the popular, freethinking movement: again and again leading Secularist lecturers and editors defected from the cause and re-emerged as able opponents. The book explores in detail their reasons for rejecting scepticism and their responses to the intellectual challenges to faith in their day. This study serves not only to correct an exaggerated emphasis on the Victorian crisis of faith, but also to reveal the intellectual strength of Christianity in the 19th century.
Timothy Larsen
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199287871
- eISBN:
- 9780191713422
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287871.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Frederic Rowland Young was a Secularist lecturer who worked for G. J. Holyoake and wrote for his newspaper, the Reasoner; he later became a Unitarian minister. With George Sexton, he became a ...
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Frederic Rowland Young was a Secularist lecturer who worked for G. J. Holyoake and wrote for his newspaper, the Reasoner; he later became a Unitarian minister. With George Sexton, he became a Christian apologist and a proponent of Spiritualism. Eventually, he became convinced of the doctrine of the Trinity and the deity of Christ and served for a time as a Congregational minister.Less
Frederic Rowland Young was a Secularist lecturer who worked for G. J. Holyoake and wrote for his newspaper, the Reasoner; he later became a Unitarian minister. With George Sexton, he became a Christian apologist and a proponent of Spiritualism. Eventually, he became convinced of the doctrine of the Trinity and the deity of Christ and served for a time as a Congregational minister.
Timothy Larsen
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199287871
- eISBN:
- 9780191713422
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287871.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
John Henry Gordon wrote for G. J. Holyoake’s Reasoner. Gordon became the first full-time Secularist lecturer in Britain when he was appointed by the Leeds Secular Society. After a dramatic ...
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John Henry Gordon wrote for G. J. Holyoake’s Reasoner. Gordon became the first full-time Secularist lecturer in Britain when he was appointed by the Leeds Secular Society. After a dramatic reconversion, he eventually became a Baptist minister and a lecturer in favour of disestablishment for the Liberation Society.Less
John Henry Gordon wrote for G. J. Holyoake’s Reasoner. Gordon became the first full-time Secularist lecturer in Britain when he was appointed by the Leeds Secular Society. After a dramatic reconversion, he eventually became a Baptist minister and a lecturer in favour of disestablishment for the Liberation Society.
Timothy Larsen
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199287871
- eISBN:
- 9780191713422
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287871.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
John Bagnall Bebbington, in addition to writing and lecturing in favour of Secularism, was also a patron of freethinking endeavours. He was the chairman of the Temple Secular Society and the editor ...
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John Bagnall Bebbington, in addition to writing and lecturing in favour of Secularism, was also a patron of freethinking endeavours. He was the chairman of the Temple Secular Society and the editor of the Propagandist. He was particularly influenced by the thought of David Hume. He gave the reasons for his reconversion in Why I Was An Atheist and Why I Am Now A Christian.Less
John Bagnall Bebbington, in addition to writing and lecturing in favour of Secularism, was also a patron of freethinking endeavours. He was the chairman of the Temple Secular Society and the editor of the Propagandist. He was particularly influenced by the thought of David Hume. He gave the reasons for his reconversion in Why I Was An Atheist and Why I Am Now A Christian.
Timothy Larsen
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199287871
- eISBN:
- 9780191713422
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287871.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter argues that the crisis of doubt in the world of popular freethought was a deep one. A significant percentage of Secularist leaders reconverted.
This chapter argues that the crisis of doubt in the world of popular freethought was a deep one. A significant percentage of Secularist leaders reconverted.
Timothy Larsen
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199287871
- eISBN:
- 9780191713422
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287871.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The Victorian Secularist movement knew that it was experiencing a crisis of doubt. Freethinkers reconverted because they came to believe that Secularism was merely negative, that it offered no basis ...
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The Victorian Secularist movement knew that it was experiencing a crisis of doubt. Freethinkers reconverted because they came to believe that Secularism was merely negative, that it offered no basis for morality, and that it adhered to a procrustean system of logic. Positively, they were drawn to the Bible and to Jesus of Nazareth, to the realm of the spirit (sometimes through Spiritualism), and to Christians who modeled learning and a commitment to justice. Popular radicals were ahead of members of the social elite when it came to these intellectual trends.Less
The Victorian Secularist movement knew that it was experiencing a crisis of doubt. Freethinkers reconverted because they came to believe that Secularism was merely negative, that it offered no basis for morality, and that it adhered to a procrustean system of logic. Positively, they were drawn to the Bible and to Jesus of Nazareth, to the realm of the spirit (sometimes through Spiritualism), and to Christians who modeled learning and a commitment to justice. Popular radicals were ahead of members of the social elite when it came to these intellectual trends.
Todd H. Weir
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266915
- eISBN:
- 9780191938177
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266915.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter proposes that apologetics, a term borrowed from Christian theology, can provide a new analytical tool for understanding and comparing the structures and dynamics not just of religious ...
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This chapter proposes that apologetics, a term borrowed from Christian theology, can provide a new analytical tool for understanding and comparing the structures and dynamics not just of religious but also of secularist movements in modern culture wars. It builds an ideal-typical model of apologetics using observations of the German Christian Churches of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) and then tests it on the anticlerical associations of the socialist and communist movements. The chapter then examines apologetics as a zone of contention in which religious and secularist actors exchanged ideas and strategies in the course of their conflict. It seeks to demonstrate the value of this approach to the history of ideas through a conceptual historical exploration of Weltanschauung or worldview. It argues that competition with National Socialism and Communism led some German Protestant apologists to pursue definitions of ‘Christian worldview’ that brought them close to elements of their opponents’ worldviews.Less
This chapter proposes that apologetics, a term borrowed from Christian theology, can provide a new analytical tool for understanding and comparing the structures and dynamics not just of religious but also of secularist movements in modern culture wars. It builds an ideal-typical model of apologetics using observations of the German Christian Churches of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) and then tests it on the anticlerical associations of the socialist and communist movements. The chapter then examines apologetics as a zone of contention in which religious and secularist actors exchanged ideas and strategies in the course of their conflict. It seeks to demonstrate the value of this approach to the history of ideas through a conceptual historical exploration of Weltanschauung or worldview. It argues that competition with National Socialism and Communism led some German Protestant apologists to pursue definitions of ‘Christian worldview’ that brought them close to elements of their opponents’ worldviews.
Clemens Six
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266915
- eISBN:
- 9780191938177
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266915.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
Decolonisation in South and Southeast Asia after 1945 was a period of intense negotiations over the role of religion in postcolonial society. For many witnesses in the religious field, religion had ...
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Decolonisation in South and Southeast Asia after 1945 was a period of intense negotiations over the role of religion in postcolonial society. For many witnesses in the religious field, religion had to be defended against primarily three threats: the changing power structures of imperial decline; communism; and secular nationalism. In this chapter I examine in how far the (Christian) concept of apologetics is suitable for world-historical research. My argument is that apologetics can indeed broaden our conceptual and empirical understanding of the twentieth century and deepen our understanding of religion and decolonisation. To do so, I propose to distinguish between three different forms of apologetics in word and deed: transnational forms of apologetics (illustrated by the theologies and institutional practices of the Church Missionary Society), national-majoritarian apologetics (discussed with the example of the Hindu-nationalist RSS in post-Partition India), and national-adaptive apologetics (as practices by Muhammadiyah in early-postcolonial Indonesia).Less
Decolonisation in South and Southeast Asia after 1945 was a period of intense negotiations over the role of religion in postcolonial society. For many witnesses in the religious field, religion had to be defended against primarily three threats: the changing power structures of imperial decline; communism; and secular nationalism. In this chapter I examine in how far the (Christian) concept of apologetics is suitable for world-historical research. My argument is that apologetics can indeed broaden our conceptual and empirical understanding of the twentieth century and deepen our understanding of religion and decolonisation. To do so, I propose to distinguish between three different forms of apologetics in word and deed: transnational forms of apologetics (illustrated by the theologies and institutional practices of the Church Missionary Society), national-majoritarian apologetics (discussed with the example of the Hindu-nationalist RSS in post-Partition India), and national-adaptive apologetics (as practices by Muhammadiyah in early-postcolonial Indonesia).
Victoria Smolkin
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266915
- eISBN:
- 9780191938177
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266915.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
In the Soviet Union, the figure of the “atheist apologist”—a propagandist charged with publicly denouncing religion and spreading atheism—emerged during Nikita Khrushchev’s antireligious campaign ...
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In the Soviet Union, the figure of the “atheist apologist”—a propagandist charged with publicly denouncing religion and spreading atheism—emerged during Nikita Khrushchev’s antireligious campaign (1958-1964). When Khrushchev came to power, he denounced Stalin’s more pragmatic approach to religious affairs and called for a return to ideological purity. The Soviet Union had entered a new historical stage – “Building Communism” – which again made religion a problem and atheism a priority. Yet, as the party mobilised for a new antireligious campaign, it realized that it lacked the institutions, expertise, and cadres to conduct atheist work, and that it had to build an atheist apparatus. This made the figure of the religious apostate turned atheist apologist especially valuable., and under Khrushchev, hundreds of believers and clergy publicly broke with religion. Among them, Evgraf Duluman (1928-2013) and Aleksandr Osipov (1911-1967) were the most prominent. These figures transformed a private spiritual crisis into a public vocation, in the process becoming the party’s atheist apologists. Based on archival sources and the author’s interviews with former atheist cadres, this chapter looks at what atheist apologists can reveal about the Soviet atheist apparatus and the party’s struggle to overcome religion, spread atheism, and build Communism.Less
In the Soviet Union, the figure of the “atheist apologist”—a propagandist charged with publicly denouncing religion and spreading atheism—emerged during Nikita Khrushchev’s antireligious campaign (1958-1964). When Khrushchev came to power, he denounced Stalin’s more pragmatic approach to religious affairs and called for a return to ideological purity. The Soviet Union had entered a new historical stage – “Building Communism” – which again made religion a problem and atheism a priority. Yet, as the party mobilised for a new antireligious campaign, it realized that it lacked the institutions, expertise, and cadres to conduct atheist work, and that it had to build an atheist apparatus. This made the figure of the religious apostate turned atheist apologist especially valuable., and under Khrushchev, hundreds of believers and clergy publicly broke with religion. Among them, Evgraf Duluman (1928-2013) and Aleksandr Osipov (1911-1967) were the most prominent. These figures transformed a private spiritual crisis into a public vocation, in the process becoming the party’s atheist apologists. Based on archival sources and the author’s interviews with former atheist cadres, this chapter looks at what atheist apologists can reveal about the Soviet atheist apparatus and the party’s struggle to overcome religion, spread atheism, and build Communism.
Muhamad Ali
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781474409209
- eISBN:
- 9781474418799
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474409209.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This book explores the ways in which Islam and European colonialism shaped modernity in the Indo-Malay world. Focusing on Indonesia and Malaysia, it looks at how European colonial and Islamic ...
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This book explores the ways in which Islam and European colonialism shaped modernity in the Indo-Malay world. Focusing on Indonesia and Malaysia, it looks at how European colonial and Islamic modernising powers operated in the common and parallel domains of organization, government and politics, law and education in the first half of the twentieth century. Through its critical approach to the interplay of Islamic religious rfrom and dynamics of both British and Dutch colonialisms, this work of comparative history illuminates perspective on the rather different shapes that Islam and Muslim societies have taken in the neighboring nation-states of modern Malaysia and Indonesia. It shows that colonialisation was able to co-exist with Islamisation, arguing that Islamic movements were not necessarily antithetical to modernisation, nor that Western modernity was always anathema to Islamic and local custom. Rather, in distinguishing religious from worldly affairs, they were able to adopt and adapt modern ideas and practices that were useful or relevant while maintaining the Islamic faith and ritual that they believed to be essential. Moving beyond binaries such as Orientalist versus Islamic and modernity versus Islam, it offers historical evidence and theoretical engagement with Islamic religious reform and European colonial modernisation in particular, and with religion, modernity, and tradition in general. In developing an understanding of the common ways in which Islam was defined and treated in Indonesia and Malaysia, we can gain a new insight to Muslim politics and culture in Southeast Asia.Less
This book explores the ways in which Islam and European colonialism shaped modernity in the Indo-Malay world. Focusing on Indonesia and Malaysia, it looks at how European colonial and Islamic modernising powers operated in the common and parallel domains of organization, government and politics, law and education in the first half of the twentieth century. Through its critical approach to the interplay of Islamic religious rfrom and dynamics of both British and Dutch colonialisms, this work of comparative history illuminates perspective on the rather different shapes that Islam and Muslim societies have taken in the neighboring nation-states of modern Malaysia and Indonesia. It shows that colonialisation was able to co-exist with Islamisation, arguing that Islamic movements were not necessarily antithetical to modernisation, nor that Western modernity was always anathema to Islamic and local custom. Rather, in distinguishing religious from worldly affairs, they were able to adopt and adapt modern ideas and practices that were useful or relevant while maintaining the Islamic faith and ritual that they believed to be essential. Moving beyond binaries such as Orientalist versus Islamic and modernity versus Islam, it offers historical evidence and theoretical engagement with Islamic religious reform and European colonial modernisation in particular, and with religion, modernity, and tradition in general. In developing an understanding of the common ways in which Islam was defined and treated in Indonesia and Malaysia, we can gain a new insight to Muslim politics and culture in Southeast Asia.
Aziz al-Azmeh
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474447461
- eISBN:
- 9781474480697
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474447461.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This book provides a study of secularisation and secularism in the Arab World, between middle of the nineteenth century and the end of the twentieth. It approaches the its subject in the modern ...
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This book provides a study of secularisation and secularism in the Arab World, between middle of the nineteenth century and the end of the twentieth. It approaches the its subject in the modern history of the Arab World as a set of historical changes which affected the regulation of social, political, religious and cultural order which permeated the concrete workings of society, rather than as an ideological discussion framed from the outset by the presumed opposition between Islam and secularism. The book traces social, institutional and cultural changes of a secularising character, the emergence and consolidation of a secular political and legal system, the rise of a new type of educational and political arrangements with their complement of a modern intelligentsia, the social and institutional attrition of the Muslim religious institution and the strong reformist current in Islam, the rise of modern cognitive regimes, ideologies and secular culture, and the balances of secular and religious elements in nationalism. The book traces the rise of secularist and anti-religious culture in the variety of its manifestations, and of anti-modernism as well, and the emergence of associated religious and anti-modernist currents in the wake of the 1967 war, the associated strengthening of Islamist politics and its move from the margins to the centre in the last quarter of the twentieth century.Less
This book provides a study of secularisation and secularism in the Arab World, between middle of the nineteenth century and the end of the twentieth. It approaches the its subject in the modern history of the Arab World as a set of historical changes which affected the regulation of social, political, religious and cultural order which permeated the concrete workings of society, rather than as an ideological discussion framed from the outset by the presumed opposition between Islam and secularism. The book traces social, institutional and cultural changes of a secularising character, the emergence and consolidation of a secular political and legal system, the rise of a new type of educational and political arrangements with their complement of a modern intelligentsia, the social and institutional attrition of the Muslim religious institution and the strong reformist current in Islam, the rise of modern cognitive regimes, ideologies and secular culture, and the balances of secular and religious elements in nationalism. The book traces the rise of secularist and anti-religious culture in the variety of its manifestations, and of anti-modernism as well, and the emergence of associated religious and anti-modernist currents in the wake of the 1967 war, the associated strengthening of Islamist politics and its move from the margins to the centre in the last quarter of the twentieth century.
Hugh McLeod and Todd H. Weir
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266915
- eISBN:
- 9780191938177
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266915.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter gives an overview of the history of religious competition and secular-religious politics in the twentieth century. It introduces two key terms of this volume, secularism and apologetics. ...
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This chapter gives an overview of the history of religious competition and secular-religious politics in the twentieth century. It introduces two key terms of this volume, secularism and apologetics. It proposes apologetics as a novel way to understand not only how religious but also secular actors defend their ideological positions. Following a history of the term apologetics in church use, this chapter proposes a model of apologetics neutralized of its narrowly Christian context that can be used for comparison across time and space. This introductory chapter then offers some general findings about the nature of religious competition in the twentieth century, before discussing in a comparative fashion the contributions to this volume.Less
This chapter gives an overview of the history of religious competition and secular-religious politics in the twentieth century. It introduces two key terms of this volume, secularism and apologetics. It proposes apologetics as a novel way to understand not only how religious but also secular actors defend their ideological positions. Following a history of the term apologetics in church use, this chapter proposes a model of apologetics neutralized of its narrowly Christian context that can be used for comparison across time and space. This introductory chapter then offers some general findings about the nature of religious competition in the twentieth century, before discussing in a comparative fashion the contributions to this volume.
Carlo Accetti
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231170789
- eISBN:
- 9780231540377
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231170789.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
Moral relativism is deeply troubling for those who believe that, without a set of moral absolutes, democratic societies will devolve into tyranny or totalitarianism. Carlo Invernizzi Accetti traces ...
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Moral relativism is deeply troubling for those who believe that, without a set of moral absolutes, democratic societies will devolve into tyranny or totalitarianism. Carlo Invernizzi Accetti traces the roots of contemporary anti-relativist fears to the antimodern rhetoric of the Catholic Church and then rescues a form of philosophical relativism for modern, pluralist societies, arguing that this viewpoint provides the firmest foundation for an allegiance to democracy. In his analyses of the relationship between religious arguments and political authority and the implications of philosophical relativism for democratic theory, Accetti makes a far-ranging contribution to contemporary debates over the revival of religion in politics and the conceptual grounds for a commitment to democracy. He presents the first comprehensive genealogy of anti-relativist discourse and reclaims for English-speaking readers the overlooked work of Hans Kelsen on the connection between relativism and democracy. By engaging with contemporary attempts to replace the religious foundation of democratic values with a neo-Kantian conception of reason, Accetti also makes a powerful case for relativism as the best basis for a civic ethos that integrates different perspectives into democratic politics.Less
Moral relativism is deeply troubling for those who believe that, without a set of moral absolutes, democratic societies will devolve into tyranny or totalitarianism. Carlo Invernizzi Accetti traces the roots of contemporary anti-relativist fears to the antimodern rhetoric of the Catholic Church and then rescues a form of philosophical relativism for modern, pluralist societies, arguing that this viewpoint provides the firmest foundation for an allegiance to democracy. In his analyses of the relationship between religious arguments and political authority and the implications of philosophical relativism for democratic theory, Accetti makes a far-ranging contribution to contemporary debates over the revival of religion in politics and the conceptual grounds for a commitment to democracy. He presents the first comprehensive genealogy of anti-relativist discourse and reclaims for English-speaking readers the overlooked work of Hans Kelsen on the connection between relativism and democracy. By engaging with contemporary attempts to replace the religious foundation of democratic values with a neo-Kantian conception of reason, Accetti also makes a powerful case for relativism as the best basis for a civic ethos that integrates different perspectives into democratic politics.
S.N. Balagangadhara
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198082965
- eISBN:
- 9780199081936
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198082965.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
This chapter develops an alternative perspective on the issue of secularism in India. Contemporary India confronts acute problems of religious pluralism, which pose fundamental challenges to the ...
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This chapter develops an alternative perspective on the issue of secularism in India. Contemporary India confronts acute problems of religious pluralism, which pose fundamental challenges to the existing political theory concerning religious toleration. As the Indian society consists of both pagan traditions and Semitic religions, the secular state confronts a set of difficulties unknown to the western cultural background from which it originally emerged. More specifically, by tackling the problem of religious conversion, this chapter shows that the dominant way of conceiving state neutrality becomes problematic in the Indian context. The argument suggests that the post-independent Indian state, modelled after the liberal democracies in the West, is the harbinger of religious violence in India because of the way it conceives of state neutrality. More of ‘secularism’ in India will end up feeding what it fights: the so-called ‘Hindu fundamentalism’.Less
This chapter develops an alternative perspective on the issue of secularism in India. Contemporary India confronts acute problems of religious pluralism, which pose fundamental challenges to the existing political theory concerning religious toleration. As the Indian society consists of both pagan traditions and Semitic religions, the secular state confronts a set of difficulties unknown to the western cultural background from which it originally emerged. More specifically, by tackling the problem of religious conversion, this chapter shows that the dominant way of conceiving state neutrality becomes problematic in the Indian context. The argument suggests that the post-independent Indian state, modelled after the liberal democracies in the West, is the harbinger of religious violence in India because of the way it conceives of state neutrality. More of ‘secularism’ in India will end up feeding what it fights: the so-called ‘Hindu fundamentalism’.
Richard Kearney and Jens Zimmermann (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231161039
- eISBN:
- 9780231540889
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231161039.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Contemporary conversations about religion and culture are framed by two reductive definitions of secularity. In one, multiple faiths and nonfaiths coexist free from a dominant belief in God. In the ...
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Contemporary conversations about religion and culture are framed by two reductive definitions of secularity. In one, multiple faiths and nonfaiths coexist free from a dominant belief in God. In the other, we deny the sacred altogether and exclude religion from rational thought and behavior. But is there a third way for those who wish to rediscover the sacred in a skeptical society? What kind of faith, if any, can be proclaimed after the ravages of the Holocaust and the many religion-based terrors since? Richard Kearney explores these questions with a host of philosophers known for their inclusive, forward-thinking work on the intersection of secularism, politics, and religion. An interreligious dialogue that refuses to paper over religious difference, these conversations locate the sacred within secular society and affirm a positive role for religion in human reflection and action. Drawing on his own philosophical formulations, literary analysis, and personal interreligious experiences, Kearney develops through these engagements a basic gesture of hospitality for approaching the question of God. His work facilitates a fresh encounter with our best-known voices in continental philosophy and their views on issues of importance to all spiritually minded individuals and skeptics: how to reconcile God’s goodness with human evil, how to believe in both God and natural science, how to talk about God without indulging in fundamentalist rhetoric, and how to balance God’s sovereignty with God’s love.Less
Contemporary conversations about religion and culture are framed by two reductive definitions of secularity. In one, multiple faiths and nonfaiths coexist free from a dominant belief in God. In the other, we deny the sacred altogether and exclude religion from rational thought and behavior. But is there a third way for those who wish to rediscover the sacred in a skeptical society? What kind of faith, if any, can be proclaimed after the ravages of the Holocaust and the many religion-based terrors since? Richard Kearney explores these questions with a host of philosophers known for their inclusive, forward-thinking work on the intersection of secularism, politics, and religion. An interreligious dialogue that refuses to paper over religious difference, these conversations locate the sacred within secular society and affirm a positive role for religion in human reflection and action. Drawing on his own philosophical formulations, literary analysis, and personal interreligious experiences, Kearney develops through these engagements a basic gesture of hospitality for approaching the question of God. His work facilitates a fresh encounter with our best-known voices in continental philosophy and their views on issues of importance to all spiritually minded individuals and skeptics: how to reconcile God’s goodness with human evil, how to believe in both God and natural science, how to talk about God without indulging in fundamentalist rhetoric, and how to balance God’s sovereignty with God’s love.
George Rupp
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231174282
- eISBN:
- 9780231539869
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231174282.003.0012
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
To address the dimension of the resistance to individualism that is warranted, its values can and should be integrated into an affirmation of community.
To address the dimension of the resistance to individualism that is warranted, its values can and should be integrated into an affirmation of community.
Nadia Kiwan
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781784994129
- eISBN:
- 9781526150509
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7765/9781526144270
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sociology of Religion
Through its focus on secular Muslim public intellectuals in contemporary France, this book challenges polarizing accounts of Islam and Muslims, which have been ubiquitous in political and media ...
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Through its focus on secular Muslim public intellectuals in contemporary France, this book challenges polarizing accounts of Islam and Muslims, which have been ubiquitous in political and media debates for the last thirty years. The work of these intellectuals is significant because it expresses, in diverse ways, an ‘internal’ vision of Islam which demonstrates how Muslim identification and practices successfully engage with and are part of a culture of secularism (laïcité). The study of individual Muslim secular intellectuals in contemporary France thus takes seriously the claim that the categories of religion and the secular are more closely intertwined than we might assume. This monograph is a timely publication which makes a crucial contribution to academic and political debates about the place of Islam and Muslims in contemporary France. The book will focus on a discursive and contextualised analysis of the published works and public interventions of Abdelwahab Meddeb, Malek Chebel, Leïla Babès, Dounia Bouzar and Abdennour Bidar - intellectuals who have received little scholarly attention despite being well-known figures in France.Less
Through its focus on secular Muslim public intellectuals in contemporary France, this book challenges polarizing accounts of Islam and Muslims, which have been ubiquitous in political and media debates for the last thirty years. The work of these intellectuals is significant because it expresses, in diverse ways, an ‘internal’ vision of Islam which demonstrates how Muslim identification and practices successfully engage with and are part of a culture of secularism (laïcité). The study of individual Muslim secular intellectuals in contemporary France thus takes seriously the claim that the categories of religion and the secular are more closely intertwined than we might assume. This monograph is a timely publication which makes a crucial contribution to academic and political debates about the place of Islam and Muslims in contemporary France. The book will focus on a discursive and contextualised analysis of the published works and public interventions of Abdelwahab Meddeb, Malek Chebel, Leïla Babès, Dounia Bouzar and Abdennour Bidar - intellectuals who have received little scholarly attention despite being well-known figures in France.
Richard Kearney
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231161039
- eISBN:
- 9780231540889
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231161039.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
In this chapter, Richard Kearney introduces and summarizes his idea of Anatheism to provide the reader with the nescessary framwork for understanding the subsequent debates.
In this chapter, Richard Kearney introduces and summarizes his idea of Anatheism to provide the reader with the nescessary framwork for understanding the subsequent debates.
Richard Kearney and Jens Zimmermann (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231161039
- eISBN:
- 9780231540889
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231161039.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Literary critic James Wood challenges Kearney to explain why he thinks anatheism necessary and what it offers that sets it apart from traditional religious attempts to define God.
Literary critic James Wood challenges Kearney to explain why he thinks anatheism necessary and what it offers that sets it apart from traditional religious attempts to define God.
