Religion among We the People: Conversations on Democracy and the Divine GoodExplores democracy with religious freedom and its dependence on theism. Franklin I. Gamwell holds that democracy with religious freedom is dependent on metaphysical theism. Democratic politics can be neutral to all religious convictions only if its constitution establishes a full and free discourse about the ultimate terms of justice and their application to decisions of the state, and the divine good is the true ground of justice. Notably, Gamwell s view challenges virtually all current accounts of democracy with religious freedom. This uncommon position emerges through a series of essays in which Gamwell engages a variety of conversation partners, including Thomas Jefferson, David Strauss, Abraham Lincoln, Jürgen Habermas, Alfred North Whitehead, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Iris Murdoch. Discussions of Jefferson, Lincoln, and the US Constitution illustrate the promise of neoclassical metaphysics as a context for interpreting US history. Gamwell then defends his metaphysics against both modern refusals of metaphysics and accounts of ultimate reality offered by Niebuhr and Murdoch. |
Contents
Consent to Religious Freedom The Legacy of Thomas Jefferson | 1 |
On Constitutional Authority A Conversation with David Strauss | 31 |
Democracy and Natures God The Legacy of Abraham Lincoln | 61 |
On Religion in the Public Sphere A Conversation with Jürgen Habermas | 91 |
On the Humanitarian Ideal The Promise of Neoclassical Metaphysics | 121 |
Reinhold Niebuhrs Theistic Ethic The Law of Love | 147 |
On the Loss of Theism A Conversation with Iris Murdoch | 179 |
Conclusion | 195 |
Notes | 201 |
| 225 | |
| 231 | |
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Religion Among We the People: Conversations on Democracy and the Divine Good Franklin I. Gamwell No preview available - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
abiding character Accordingly adherence affirm alternatives argue argument assertion authority Burt citizens common law comprehensive assessment comprehensive doctrines conception Constitution’s context conviction critique decision Declaration defined democracy with religious democratic democratic constitution democratic politics denial denies depends difference discourse distinction divine equal eternity ethic explication explicit explicitly formulation full and free given God’s Habermas Habermas’s hermeneutical implies includes Iris Murdoch Jefferson Jürgen Habermas justice Kant Kant’s Kantian Karl-Otto Apel least lifeworld Lincoln living Constitution moral realism Moreover Murdoch mutual love neoclassical metaphysics Niebuhr nonteleological norm one’s overlapping consensus political claim political community political evaluation political tradition popular sovereignty possible postmetaphysical pragmatic prescribe promise proposal purpose question rational Rawls Rawls’s reason relation religion religious belief religious freedom republican requires respect sacrificial love secular secularistic seek slavery stipulation Strauss teleology telos terms of political theistic theory thereby tion transcendent truth ultimate terms understanding universal validity Whitehead