Secularism is often imagined in Thomas Jefferson's words as 'a wall of separation between Church and State'. This book moves past that standard picture to argue that secularism is a process that reshapes both religion and politics. Borrowing a term from religious traditions, the book goes further to argue that this process should be understood as a process of conversion. Matthew Scherer studies Saint Augustine, John Locke, John Rawls, Henri Bergson and Stanley Cavell to present a more accurate picture of what secularism is, what it does, and how it can be reimagined to be more conducive to genuine democracy.
• Pathbreaking reinterpretation of modern secularism • Interdisciplinary approach to studying the role of religion in public life • Contains original studies of Augustine, Locke, Bergson, Rawls and Cavell
Contents
Introduction: beyond the separation of church and state: secularism as conversion; 1. The authorized narrative and crystalline structure of conversion in Augustine's Confessions; 2. Toleration and conversion in Locke's letters: it is 'above all things necessary to distinguish'; 3. The crystalline structure of conversion: Henri Bergson's Two Sources; 4. Saint John (Rawls), the miracle of secular reason; 5. The wish for a better life: Stanley Cavell's critique of the social contract; Conclusion: 6. From Supernovas into The Deep: secularism as conversion, a conversion of secularism.
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