The disenchantment of secular discourse / Steven D. Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Steven D., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Secularism.

Church and state.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (298 pages)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England : Harvard University Press, 2010.

Summary:

Prominent observers complain that public discourse in America is shallow and unedifying -- This debased conditions often attributed to, among other things, the resurgence of religion in public life. Steven D. Smith argues that this diagnosis has the matter backwards: it is not primarily religion but rather the strictures of secular rationalism that have drained our modern discourse of force and authenticity. Thus Rawlsian "public reason" filters appeals to religion or "other comprehensive doctrines" out of public deliberation. But these restrictions have the effect of excluding our deepest normative commitments, virtually assuring that the discourse will be shallow. Furthermore, because we cannot defend our normative positions without resorting to convictions that secular discourse deems inadmissible, we are frequently forced to smuggle in those convictions under the guise of benign notions such as freedom and equality. Smith suggests that this sort of smuggling is pervasive in modern secular discourse. He shows this by considering a series of controversial, contemporary issues, including the Supreme Court's assisted-suicide decisions, the "harm principle," separation of church and state, and freedom of conscience. He concludes by suggesting that it is possible and desirable to free public discourse of the constraints associated with secularism and "public reason."

Contents:

1. The way we talk now

2. Living and dying in the "course of nature"

3. Trafficking in harm

4. Disoriented discourse: The secular subversion of religious freedom

5. The heavenly city of the secular philosophers

6. Science, humanity, and atrocity

7. Opening up the cage?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780674056862

0674056868

OCLC:

1250083843