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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. This book describes the essential commitments of free democracy, explains how religious and secular moral considerations can be integrated to facilitate cooperation in a world of religious pluralism, and proposes ideals of civic virtue that express the mutual respect on which democracy depends.
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. This book describes the essential commitments of free democracy, explains how religious and secular moral considerations can be integrated to facilitate cooperation in a world of religious pluralism, and proposes ideals of civic virtue that express the mutual respect on which democracy depends.
Part I. The Foundations of Democracy and the Separation of Church and State: 1. The plurality of paths to Liberal democracy; 2. The separation of church and State; 3. Church-State separation and the justification of Governmental power; Part II. The Ethics of Citizenship and the Balance of Religious and Political Arguments: 4. Religious convictions and secular reasons; 5. Religion and ethics: toward integration; Part III. Civic Virtue and Political Activism in a Religiously Pluralistic Democracy: 6. Civic virtue; 7. Religious conviction and political activism; 8. Conclusion: ethics, reason, and democracy.
An examination 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.' The Philosophical Quarterly
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