Religion, modernity, and politics in Hegel / Thomas A. Lewis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lewis, Thomas A.

Contributor:

John G. Hartman Memorial Library Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1770-1831.

Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich.

Philosophy, German--19th century.

Philosophy, German.

Philosophy and religion.

Religion and politics.

Civilization, Modern--Philosophy.

Civilization, Modern.

Physical Description:

xiv, 277 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2011.

Summary:

Religion, Modernity, and Polities in Hegel analyzes Hegel's philosophy of religion and develops its significance for ongoing debates about the relation between religion and politics as well as the history of the conceptualization of religion. One of the most vital currents in contemporary Hegel scholarship argues that Hegel radicalizes, rather than reneges upon, Kant's critique of metaphysics. Critics have claimed that this new scholarship cannot account for Hegel's treatment of religion. Responding to these critics, Lewis argues that reading Hegel's philosophy of religion in relation to these non-traditional interpretations of his intellectual project as a whole generates a new understanding of Hegel as well as a new perspective on religion, politics, and modernity. In relation to the conceptualization of religion, Hegel's complex and multi-faceted account of religion reconciles common contrasts, presenting religion as both personal and social, both emotional and cognitive, both theoretical and practical. In relation to politics, it is public without being theocratic and gives a decisive importance to individual conscience. Book jacket.

Contents:

Conceptualizing Religion in the Modern West 3

Religion and Politics 7

Recent Hegel Scholarship and the Philosophy of Religion 11

1 Civil Religion and Social Reform: Hegel's Early Reflection on Religion 16

The Religious and Political Milieu of Hegel's Youth 17

Religion and Society in Hegel's Early Writings: Tübingen and Berne 25

Frankfurt and the Move Beyond Kantian Morality 44

2 The Philosophical Basis of Hegel's Philosophy of Religion 57

Kant on the Synthetic Unity of Apperception 60

Hegel's Critique of Kant and Post-Kantian Idealism in the Early Jena Writings 66

Hegel's Response: The Logic 79

3 Locating the Philosophy of Religion 97

The Relationship to the Needs of the Day 98

The Relationship to Philosophy as a Whole 113

The Structure of the Philosophy of Religion 132

4 The Concept of Religion: Hegel's God and the Relation Between Religion and Philosophy 135

The Concept of God 137

Knowledge of God 142

The Cultus 169

5 Spirit and/in History 179

Constant Revision and Its Significance 183

Determinate Religion as a Conceptual Mapping 184

Determinate Religion as a Narrative of Genesis 192

The Problems with Trying to Combine These Conceptions and the Inadequate Rationale for Doing So 196

Conclusion on Ambition 200

6 The Consummation of Religion 203

The Idea of a Consummate Religion 205

The First Element 210

The Second Element 213

The Third Element 219

7 Cultivating Our Intuitions: Hegel on Religion, Politics, and Public Discourse 232

The State as the Actualization of Spirit 234

The Difference Form Makes 237

Cultivating Political Dispositions 239

Responding to Religious Challenges 242

Hegel and Contemporary Conversations 244.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [254]-261) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the John G. Hartman Memorial Library Fund.

ISBN:

9780199595594

0199595593

OCLC:

694395532