This book examines the importance of the Enlightenment for understanding the secular outlook of contemporary Western societies. It shows the new ways of thinking about religion that emerged during the 17th and 18th centuries and have had a great impact on how we address problems related to religion in the public sphere today. Based on the assumption that political concepts are rooted in historical realities, this collection combines the perspective of political philosophy with the perspective of the history of ideas. Does secularism imply that individuals are not free to manifest their beliefs in public? Is secularization the same as rejecting faith in the absolute? Can there be a universal rational core in every religion? Does freedom of expression always go hand in hand with freedom of conscience? Is secularism an invention of the predominantly Christian West, which cannot be applied in other contexts, specifically that of Muslim cultures? Answers to these and related questions are sought not only in current theories and debates in political philosophy, but also in the writings of Immanuel Kant, Benedict Spinoza, Thomas Hobbes, Anthony Collins, Adriaan Koerbagh, Abbé Claude Yvon, Giovanni Paolo Marana, and others.  
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Answers to these and related questions are sought not only in current theories and debates in political philosophy, but also in the writings of Immanuel Kant, Benedict Spinoza, Thomas Hobbes, Anthony Collins, Adriaan Koerbagh, Abbé Claude Yvon, Giovanni Paolo Marana, and others.
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1. Editor’s Introduction.- 2. Towards a Political Theory of Secularism.- 3. The Idea of Immanence in Charles Taylor’s Philosophy of Religion.- 4. The Rationality of Secularization.-5. The Secularism of Spinoza and his Circle.- 6. Thomas Hobbes and the Secularization of Authority.- 7. The History and Philosophy of English Freethinking.- 8. Sources of Knowledge, Sources of Doubts: The Emergence of       Modern Religious Studies and The French Enlightenment.- 9. The Interlacing of Secular Implications and Sacred Discourse in the French Enlightenment: Toleration and Freedom of  Expression in the Works of Abbé Claude Yvon.- 10. Kant on Freedom of Thought.- 11. The Divine Immanence, Kant’s Religious Rationalism, and Spinoza.- 12. Talking to Ourselves: An Investigation into the Christian Ethics Inherent in Secularism.- 13. Rethinking Secularism as A Political Principle in the Middle East: From Negative to Positive Understanding and Perception of Secularism.
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This book examines the importance of the Enlightenment for understanding the secular outlook of contemporary Western societies. It shows the new ways of thinking about religion that emerged during the 17th and 18th centuries and have had a great impact on how we address problems related to religion in the public sphere today. Based on the assumption that political concepts are rooted in historical realities, this collection combines the perspective of political philosophy with the perspective of the history of ideas. Does secularism imply that individuals are not free to manifest their beliefs in public? Is secularization the same as rejecting faith in the absolute? Can there be a universal rational core in every religion? Does freedom of expression always go hand in hand with freedom of conscience? Is secularism an invention of the predominantly Christian West, which cannot be applied in other contexts, specifically that of Muslim cultures? Answers to these and related questions are sought not only in current theories and debates in political philosophy, but also in the writings of Immanuel Kant, Benedict Spinoza, Thomas Hobbes, Anthony Collins, Adriaan Koerbagh, Abbé Claude Yvon, Giovanni Paolo Marana, and others.  
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“Welcoming so many European scholars into a historically focused conversation is one of the many rewards offered by this collection of essays on secularism.  Religious fundamentalists will learn that secularism has many sources, thrives on their hostility, and is alive and well in Eastern and Western Europe.  Beginning with contemporary philosophers and moving back to Spinoza, Hobbes and the English freethinkers, lingering in the French Enlightenment (with among others the abbé Yvon), and discussing Kant, these essays make us rethink topics that are essential to the secular tradition.” (Margaret C. Jacob, University of California, Los Angeles, USA)“This collection of thought-provoking and innovative essays sets up a triangular dialogue between scholars of the Enlightenment, historians of particular great modern thinkers (especially Hobbes and Kant) and theorists of secularism in our contemporary world of considerable value. It is most certainly a valuable new perspective on both philosophy of religion and contemporary secularism.” (Jonathan Israel, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, USA)
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Provides a wide historical as well as cross-cultural perspective on recent debates about secularism Offers a re-conception of the sources and impact of the secularization process Establishes new connections between historical events and figures that shaped the modern ways of thinking about religion Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9783319880167
Publisert
2018-08-15
Utgiver
Vendor
Springer International Publishing AG
Høyde
210 mm
Bredde
148 mm
Aldersnivå
Research, P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet

Biographical note

Anna Tomaszewska is an assistant professor of philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.

 

Hasse Hämäläinen is a postdoctoral researcher in the project The Enlightenment Ideas of Freedom of Thought and Conscience, and Contemporary Secularism at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.