Beyond church and state : democracy, secularism, and conversion / Matthew Scherer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Scherer, Matthew, 1977- author.

Series:

Religion, politics, and democracy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Secularism.

Religion and politics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 240 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Beyond Church & State

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

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: from Supernovas into The Deep: secularism as conversion, a conversion of secularism.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-107-23648-7

1-139-61075-9

1-139-60903-3

1-139-62563-2

1-139-61261-1

1-139-61633-1

1-299-39999-1

1-139-62191-2

1-139-19926-9

OCLC:

829459919