Between naturalism and religion : philosophical essays

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Bibliographic Information

Between naturalism and religion : philosophical essays

by Jürgen Habermas ; translated by Ciaran Cronin

Polity, c2008

  • : hbk
  • : pbk

Other Title

Zwischen Naturalismus und Religion

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Note

Translation of: Zwischen Naturalismus und Religion

First published in German: Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp, 2005

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: hbk ISBN 9780745638249

Description

Two countervailing trends mark the intellectual tenor of our age - the spread of naturalistic worldviews and religious orthodoxies. Advances in biogenetics, brain research, and robotics are clearing the way for the penetration of an objective scientific self-understanding of persons into everyday life. For philosophy, this trend is associated with the challenge of scientific naturalism. At the same time, we are witnessing an unexpected revitalization of religious traditions and the politicization of religious communities across the world. From a philosophical perspective, this revival of religious energies poses the challenge of a fundamentalist critique of the principles underlying the modern West's postmetaphysical understanding of itself. The tension between naturalism and religion is the central theme of this major new book by Jurgen Habermas. On the one hand he argues for an appropriate naturalistic understanding of cultural evolution that does justice to the normative character of the human mind. On the other hand, he calls for an appropriate interpretation of the secularizing effects of a process of social and cultural rationalization increasingly denounced by the champions of religious orthodoxies as a historical development peculiar to the West. These reflections on the enduring importance of religion and the limits of secularism under conditions of postmetaphysical reason set the scene for an extended treatment of the political significance of religious tolerance and for a fresh contribution to current debates on cosmopolitanism and a constitution for international society.
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780745638256

Description

Two countervailing trends mark the intellectual tenor of our age - the spread of naturalistic worldviews and religious orthodoxies. Advances in biogenetics, brain research, and robotics are clearing the way for the penetration of an objective scientific self-understanding of persons into everyday life. For philosophy, this trend is associated with the challenge of scientific naturalism. At the same time, we are witnessing an unexpected revitalization of religious traditions and the politicization of religious communities across the world. From a philosophical perspective, this revival of religious energies poses the challenge of a fundamentalist critique of the principles underlying the modern Wests postmetaphysical understanding of itself. The tension between naturalism and religion is the central theme of this major new book by Jurgen Habermas. On the one hand he argues for an appropriate naturalistic understanding of cultural evolution that does justice to the normative character of the human mind. On the other hand, he calls for an appropriate interpretation of the secularizing effects of a process of social and cultural rationalization increasingly denounced by the champions of religious orthodoxies as a historical development peculiar to the West. These reflections on the enduring importance of religion and the limits of secularism under conditions of postmetaphysical reason set the scene for an extended treatment the political significance of religious tolerance and for a fresh contribution to current debates on cosmopolitanism and a constitution for international society.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1 Part I The Intersubjective Constitution of Norm-governed Thought 9 1 Public Space and Political Public Sphere - The Biographical Roots of Two Motifs in my Thought 11 2 Communicative Action and the Detranscendentalized "Use of Reason" 24 3 On the Architectonics of Discursive Differentiation: A Brief Response to a Major Controversy 77 Part II Religious Pluralism and Civic Solidarity 99 4 Prepolitical Foundations of the Constitutional State? 101 5 Religion in the Public Sphere: Cognitive Presuppositions for the "Public Use of Reason" by Religious and Secular Citizens 114 Part III Naturalism and Religion 149 6 Freedom and Determinism 151 7 "I Myself am Part of Nature" - Adorno on the Intrication of Reason in Nature: Reflections on the Relation between Freedom and Unavailability 181 8 The Boundary between Faith and Knowledge: On the Reception and Contemporary Importance of Kant's Philosophy of Religion 209 Part IV Tolerance 249 9 Religious Tolerance as Pacemaker for Cultural Rights 251 10 Equal Treatment of Cultures and the Limits of Postmodern Liberalism 271 11 A Political Constitution for the Pluralist World Society? 312 Index 353

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