Civil Religion: A Dialogue in the History of Political Philosophy

Description

Civil Religion offers philosophical commentaries on more than twenty thinkers stretching from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. It examines four important traditions within the history of modern political philosophy. The civil religion tradition, principally defined by Machiavelli, Hobbes and Rousseau, seeks to domesticate religion by putting it solidly in the service of politics. The liberal tradition pursues an alternative strategy of domestication by seeking to put as much distance as possible between religion and politics. Modern theocracy is a militant reaction against liberalism, reversing the relationship of subordination asserted by civil religion. Finally, a fourth tradition is defined by Nietzsche and Heidegger. Aspects of their thought are not just modern, but hyper-modern, yet they manifest an often-hysterical reaction against liberalism that is fundamentally shared with the theocratic tradition. Together, these four traditions compose a vital dialogue that carries us to the heart of political philosophy itself.

Ronald Beiner is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He has edited Hannah Arendt's Lectures on Kant's Political Philosophy; his other books include Political Judgment; What's the Matter with Liberalism? (winner of the Canadian Political Science Association's 1994 Macpherson Prize); Philosophy in a Time of Lost Spirit; and Liberalism, Nationalism, Citizenship.

'Ronald Beiner does an excellent job of interpreting a dizzying number of works in the tradition, and everyone from undergraduates to seasonal readers of these texts will benefit from his readings ... As the scope suggests, this book is an ambitious and ultimately impressive contribution to the history of political thought ... Beiner is fully aware of the methodoligical assumptions inherent in his project, but a very helpful introduction and conclusion position him as a moderate and thoughtful presence between contextualism and Staussianism (each of which is given a fair hearing and indeed put to use when necessary). Jacob Abolafia, Political Studies Review