The Religious Philosophy of Roger Scruton [Paperback]

In his most recent work, the contemporary philosopher Roger Scruton has turned his attention to religion. Although a religious sensibility ties together his astonishingly prodigious and dynamic output as
a philosopher, poet and composer, his recent exploration of religious and theological themes from a philosophical point of view has excited a fresh response from scholars. This collection of writings addresses Scruton's challenging and subtle philosophy of religion for the first time.

The volume includes contributions from those who specialize in the philosophy of religion, the history of thought and culture, aesthetics, and church history. The collection is introduced by Mark Dooley, author of two books on Scruton, and includes a response to the writings from Scruton himself in which he develops his idea of the sacred and the erotic and defends the integrity of his work as an attempt to give a sense of theLebenswelt(or 'lifeworld'): how humans experience the world. He argues that religion emerges from that experience and transforms us from beings bound by causal necessity into persons who acknowledge freedom, obligation and right.

A unique and fascinating collection of writings that sheds light on this hitherto unexplored aspect of Roger Scruton's philosophy.

Introduction: Saving the Sacred

1. Roger Scruton as a Philosopher for Religion
Mark Dooley
2. A Transcendental Argument for the Transcendental
Roger Scruton
Part I: What is the Sacred?
Some Philosophical and Theological Responses

3. What is the Sacred?
John Cottingham
4. The Great Absence
Anthony O'Hear
5. Locating the Sacred
Robert Grant
6. Metaphysical and Doctrinal Implications
Brian Hebblethwaite
7. That Obscure Object of Desire
Fiona Ellisl³&