From Political Theory to Political Theology: Religious Challenges and the Prospects of Democracy [Hardcover]

During the last two decades we have?witnessed what Jos? Casanova has characterised as religion going public . This has not been a trend exclusive to traditionally religious nations. Rather, it has been visible in as diverse environments as that of the construction of the new Russian political identity or in the post-9/11 political discourses of the USA.

Surprisingly, important religious manifestations also?influenced the political discourses in Britain and, more recently, in France. Partly as a consequence of these phenomena an intensive debate is now evolving about the compatibility of the neutrality of liberal democracy in relation to religiously motivated opinions in public discourses, and the conditions under which such religiously driven contributions could viably go public .?

This book?offers a collection of essays on Religion and Democracy?which critically discusses the most important questions that characterize these debates at the points of their intersection within political theory, political theology and the philosophy of religion, and considers both the challenges and the prospects of this new era which, following Habermas, one may call post-secular.

Foreword, Graham Ward and Michael Hoelzl (both University of Manchester, UK)Editor's Introduction POLITICAL THEORY Part One: Liberal Accommodations to the Religious Challenge 1. Religion and Liberalism: Public Reason, Public Sphere and Cultural Pluralism, Sebastiano Maffettone (LUISS University of Rome, Italy) 2. Accommodating Pluralism through Public Justification: Moral vs. Practical Considerations, Eszter Koll?r (LUISS University of Rome, Italy) 3. Public Reason and Models of Judgement, Daniele Santoro (LUISS University of Rome, Italy) 4. Hannah Arendt and the Problem of Public ReligionI, G?bor G?ng? (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary)Part Two: Challenging the Liberal Secular Paradigm From Within 5. Cultural Identity, Religion, Moral Pluralism and the Law, Herman De DijnlÓ%