The Disenchantment of Secular Discourse

298 Pages·2010·1.902 MB·English

by  Steven D. Smith

The Disenchantment of
Secular Discourse

T h e D i se nc h a n t m e n t
of
Se c u l a r D i s c ou r s e
Steven D. Smith
Harvard University Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, En gland
2010
Copyright © 2010 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
all rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Smith, Steven D. (Steven Douglas), 1952–
The disenchantment of secular discourse / Steven D. Smith.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 0- 674- 05087- 7 (alk. paper)
1. Secularism. 2. Discussion. I. Title.
BL2747.S645 2010
211'.6—dc22 2009041104
To my mother

Contents
1. The Way We Talk Now 1
2. Living and Dying in the “Course of Nature” 42
3. Traffi cking in Harm 70
4. Disoriented Discourse: The Secular Subversion
of Religious Freedom 107
5. The Heavenly City of the Secular Phi los o phers 151
6. Science, Humanity, and Atrocity 187
7. Opening Up the Cage? 211
Notes 227
Ac know ledg ments 279
Index 281