From Political Theory to Political Theology: Religious Challenges and the Prospects of Democracy PDF
Preview From Political Theory to Political Theology: Religious Challenges and the Prospects of Democracy
From Political Theory to Political Theology Continuum Resources in Religion and Political Culture Series Editors: Graham Ward and Michael Hoelzl, The University of Manchester, UK Aimed at undergraduates studying in this area, titles in this series look specifically at the key topics involved in the relationship between religion and politics, taking into account a broad range of religious perspectives, and presenting clear, approachable texts for students grappling with often complex concepts. The New Visibility of Religion, Graham Ward and Michael Hoelzl Remoralizing Britain, edited by Peter Manly Scott, Christopher R. Baker and Elaine L. Graham From Political Theory to Political Theology Religious Challenges and the Prospects of Democracy Edited by Péter Losonczi and Aakash Singh Continuum International Publishing Group The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane 11 York Road Suite 704 London SE1 7NX New York, NY 10038 www.continuumbooks.com © Péter Losonczi, Aakash Singh and Contributors 2010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: HB: 978-1-4411-1720-5 PB: 978-1-4411-8744-4 Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data From political theory to political theology : religious challenges and the prospects of democracy / Edited by Aakash Singh and Péter Losonczi. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-4411-1720-5 (HB) ISBN-13: 978-1-4411-8744-4 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 1-4411-1720-2 (HB) ISBN-10: 1-4411-8744-8 (pbk.) 1. Religion and politics. 2. Democracy--Religious aspects. I. Singh, Aakash. II. Losonczi, Péter. III. Title. BL65.P7F77 2010 201’.72--dc22 2009035301 Typeset by Free Range Book Design & Production Ltd Contents Acknowledgements vii Contributors ix Foreword by Graham Ward and Michael Hoelzl xiii Editors’ Introduction xv POLITICAL THEORY Part One: Liberal Accommodations to the Religious Challenge 1 Religion and Liberalism: Public Reason, Public Sphere and Cultural Pluralism 5 Sebastiano Maffettone 2 Accommodating Pluralism through Public Justification: Moral vs. Practical Considerations 22 Eszter Kollár 3 Public Reason and Models of Judgement 31 Daniele Santoro 4 Hannah Arendt and the Problem of Public Religion 47 Gábor Gángó Part Two: Challenging the Liberal Secular Paradigm from Within 5 Cultural Identity, Religion, Moral Pluralism and the Law 61 Herman De Dijn 6 Can Freedom of Religion Replace the Virtue of Tolerance? 73 Peter Jonkers 7 Democracy and Moral Relativism in a Post-secular World: Reclaiming Obligation 85 András Lánczi vi Contents FROM POLITICAL THEORY TO POLITICAL THEOLOGY Part Three: Radicalizing the Challenges: Recuperating Religion 8 Religion, Democracy and the Empty Shrine of Pluralism – Some Reminders 101 Walter Van Herck 9 Religion after Auschwitz: Jonas, Metz, and the Place of Religion in our World Today 111 Balázs M. Mezei 10 Politics without Dénouement, Faith without Guarantee: A Critical Appraisal of the Politics of Religion of the Left and the Right 122 Theo de Wit Part Four: Political Theology as Political Theory – Prospects 11 Reinhold Niebuhr and the Crisis of Liberalism: Augustinian Realism and Democratic Politics in the Post-Enlightenment 139 Alexander Rosenthal 12 Genuine or Elitist Democracy? Christianity and Democracy in the Thought of István Bibó and Dietrich Bonhoeffer 152 András Csepregi 13 The New Political Theology as Political Theory: Johann Baptist Metz on Public Suffering 162 Péter Losonczi Notes 175 Bibliography 183 Index 197 Acknowledgements The editors would like to acknowledge the financial and technical support of the Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture (Budapest), the LUISS University (Rome), and the Evangelical-Lutheran Theological University (Budapest). We are especially grateful to Mrs Lengyel, Magdolna Juhász, and to Dr Gábor Galik, whose assistance has been invaluable. We also wish to thank Walter Van Herck and Herwi M. Rikhof for permission to republish Herman De Dijn’s paper, which originally appeared in Bijdragen: International Journal in Philosophy and Theology 64:3 (2003), 286–98. This project was undertaken within the framework of the International Research Network on Religion & Democracy (IRNRD). Contributors András Csepregi teaches Systematic Theology at the Evangelical-Lutheran Theological University of Budapest. His research and publications focus on interpretation of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and István Bibó, the relation of religion and democracy, non-violent practices and their theological resources. Herman De Dijn is Professor at Catholic University of Leuven’s Higher Institute of Philosophy. His most recent book is entitled Modernité et tradition. His journal publications include essays on modernity and postmodernity, tradition and progress, toleration and democracy, religion and politics. Michael Hoelzl is Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion at the University of Manchester. He teaches continental philosophy, political philosophy, and his recent publications are on political theology, Christian anthropology and critical theory. Gábor Gángó is a Senior Research Fellow and scientific advisor at the Institute for Philosophical Research of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. He is the author of several books on nineteenth-century Hungarian intellectual history and of articles on Central European political thought and seventeenth- to twentieth-century history of philosophy. Peter Jonkers is Professor of Philosophy at the Faculty of Catholic Theology of Tilburg University. He teaches systematic philosophy, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion. His fields of research include the philosophy of Hegel and his contemporaries, contemporary metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of culture. Some recent publications include Religions Challenged by Contingency (2008) and Justifying Sacrifice (2008).
The list of books you might like
