Religious Commitment and Secular Reason

Robert Audi

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139164528

Many religious people are alarmed about features of the current age - violence in the media, a pervasive hedonism, a marginalization of religion, and widespread abortion. These concerns influence politics, but just as there should be a separation between church and state, so should there be a balance between religious commitments and secular arguments calling for social reforms. Robert Audi offers a principle of secular rationale, which does not exclude religious grounds for action but which rules out restricting freedom except on grounds that any rational citizen would accept. The book describes the essential commitments of free democracy, explains how religious and secular moral considerations can be integrated to facilitate co-operation in a world of religious pluralism, and proposes ideals of civic virtue that express the mutual respect on which democracy depends. Audi offers a balanced and sophisticated treatment of the relations between religion and politics in a modern, secular society.

‘The extended argument is a magnificent accomplishment, and its coverage of reasons and religion in politics makes it widely relevant. In addition, for current political climates where religion and politics are hotly contested, Audi’s careful analysis supplies a refreshing breeze … This book will rightly be of interest to philosophers of all stripes. But for political philosophers in particular, Religious Commitment and Secular Reason is a vital and welcome contribution indeed.’

Source: The Philosophical Quarterly

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi

Contents
pp vii-viii

Preface
pp ix-xii

PART ONE - THE FOUNDATIONS OF DEMOCRACY AND THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
pp 1-2

1 - The Plurality of Paths to Liberal Democracy
pp 3-30

2 - The Separation of Church and State
pp 31-58

3 - Church-State Separation and the Justification of Governmental Power
pp 59-78

PART TWO - THE ETHICS OF CITIZENSHIP AND THE BALANCE OF RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL ARGUMENTS
pp 79-80

4 - Religious Convictions and Secular Reasons
pp 81-115

5 - Religion and Ethics: Toward Integration
pp 116-142

PART THREE - CIVIC VIRTUE AND POLITICAL ACTIVISM IN A RELIGIOUSLY PLURALISTIC DEMOCRACY
pp 143-144

6 - Civic Virtue
pp 145-180

7 - Religious Conviction and Political Activism
pp 181-208

Conclusion: Ethics, Religion, and Democracy
pp 209-216

Notes
pp 217-252

Index
pp 253-258

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