Pope Benedict XVI's Legal ThoughtMarta Cartabia, Andrea Simoncini Throughout Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's pontificate he spoke to a range of political, civil, academic, and other cultural authorities. The speeches he delivered in these contexts reveal a striking sensitivity to the fundamental problems of law, justice, and democracy. His contribution goes well beyond the community of Catholic believers, since he didn't rely on moral or doctrinal arguments, but on what all humans have in common : reason. This book takes on Benedict XVI's pivotal question "How do we recognize what is right?" in contemporary democratic and pluralistic constitutional contexts, and discusses five speeches in which the Pope Emeritus reflected most explicitly on this issue along with the commentary from a number of distinguished legal scholars from different cultural and religious backgrounds. It responds to Benedict's invitations to re-open a public conversation on the limits of positivist reason ; to leave the windowless "bunker" in which positivism has confined human reason ; and to reach out for a wider understanding of human possibilities, in the name of the "whole breadth of reason". Although the topics of each address vary, they nevertheless are grounded on a series of core ideas, which Benedict sketches, unpacks, and develops in an organic and coherent way to formulate a "public teaching" of justice and law -- 4e de couverture. |
Contents
More Than a Religious Issue | 33 |
Human Dignity Without God? Reflections on Some | 46 |
Reason Revelation | 57 |
Faith and Reason in the Regensburg Address | 125 |
Religious Freedom in the Political Speeches of Pope | 137 |
The Contribution of Benedict XVI | 150 |
Human Rights Human Dignity | 165 |
Concerning the Doctrine of Democracy in Benedict XVI | 187 |
Acting Contrary to Reason Is Contrary to Gods Nature | 205 |
Where Democracy Begins | 213 |
Contributors | 227 |
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Address Article 9 belief Benedict points Berlin British society Bundestag Catholic Christian Church civil Collège des Bernardins concept conscience constitutional contemporary context culture debate democracy democratic derives dialogue dimension discourse divine doctrine ECtHR Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde ethical independence ethos European exclusion expression faith and reason foundation freedom of religion fundamental God’s Habermas heart historical Holy human dignity human person human rights human rights norms idea Ignatius Press important individual Islamic issues Joseph Ratzinger justice Kelsen legal positivism legislation liberty majority means modern moral Muslim natural law one’s pluralism political community Pope Benedict XVI Pope Emeritus Pope’s positive positivism positivist principle protection question Quran reality reflection regime Reichstag Building relationship relativism religious freedom religious traditions representatives of British revealed role secular human secular human rights September 12 sharia social speech sphere tion truth understanding University of Regensburg University Press values Westminster Hall XVI’s