Understanding Liberal Democracy: Essays in Political Philosophy [Hardcover]

This volume presents influential work by Nicholas Wolterstorff at the intersection between political philosophy and religion, alongside nine new essays on the nature of liberal democracy, human rights, and political authority. These novel essays offer an attractive alternative to the public reason liberalism defended by thinkers such as John Rawls.Understanding Liberal Democracypresents notable work by Nicholas Wolterstorff at the intersection between political philosophy and religion. Alongside his influential earlier essays, it includes nine new essays in which Wolterstorff develops original lines of argument and stakes out novel positions regarding the nature of liberal democracy, human rights, and political authority. Taken together, these positions are an attractive alternative to the so-called public reason liberalism defended by thinkers such as John Rawls. The volume will be of interest to philosophers, political theorists, and theologians, engaging a wide audience of those interested in how best to understand the nature of liberal democracy and its relation to religion.Editor's IntroductionAcknowledgmentsINTRODUCTIONPART ONE: PUBLIC REASON LIBERALISM1. The Paradoxical Role of Coercion in the Theory of Political Liberalism2. An Engagement with Rorty3. The Justificatory Liberalism of Gerald Gaus4. What Are the Prospects for Public Reason Liberalism?PART TWO: RE-THINKING LIBERAL DEMOCRACY5. Liberal Democracy as Equal Political Voice6. Exercising One's Political Voice as a Moral EngagementPART THREE: PERSPECTIVES ON RIGHTS7. On Secular and Theistic Groundings of Human Rights8. Grounding the Rights We Have as Human Persons9. The Right of the People to a Democratic State: Reflections on a Passage in Althusius10. Accounting for the Political Authority of the StatePART FOUR: LIBERAL DEMOCRACY AND RELIGION11. Why Can't We All Just Get Along With Each Other?12. Freedom for Religion13. Do ChrlóÒ