Relativism and religion: why democratic societies do not need moral absolutes
Moral relativism is deeply troubling for those who believe that, without a set of moral absolutes, democratic societies will devolve into tyranny or totalitarianism. Engaging directly with this claim, Carlo Invernizzi Accetti traces the roots of contemporary anti-relativist fears to the antimodern r...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subito Delivery Service: | Order now. |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
New York
Columbia University Press
[2015]
|
| In: | Year: 2015 |
| Series/Journal: | Religion, culture, and public life
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Catholic church
/ Relativism
/ Political ideas
/ Democracy
|
| Further subjects: | B
Electronic books
|
| Online Access: |
Cover (Verlag) Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Parallel Edition: | Print version: Accetti, Carlo Invernizzi: Relativism and Religion : Why Democratic Societies Do Not Need Moral Absolutes. - New York : Columbia University Press,c2015. - 9780231170789 |
| Summary: | Moral relativism is deeply troubling for those who believe that, without a set of moral absolutes, democratic societies will devolve into tyranny or totalitarianism. Engaging directly with this claim, Carlo Invernizzi Accetti traces the roots of contemporary anti-relativist fears to the antimodern rhetoric of the Catholic Church, and then rescues a form of philosophical relativism for modern, pluralist societies, arguing that this standpoint provides the firmest foundation for an allegiance to democracy. In its dual analysis of the relationship between religion and politics and the implication Jan-Werner Mueller, Professor of Politics, Princeton University, and author of Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe:Relativism and Religion makes an important contribution to contemporary debates about democracy and religion. In particular, it offers a lucid and creative re-interpretation of Hans Kelsen's still neglected democratic theory. María Pía Lara, author of The Disclosure of Politics: Struggles Over the Semantics of Secularization:Relativism and Religion is an original and bold argument that offers a compelling and critical account of how particular religious institutions (The Catholic Discourse) aim to impose their views on politics by using the "authority" of religious beliefs. This book will shed light into our present debates concerning religion and politics Moral relativism is deeply troubling for those who believe that, without a set of moral absolutes, democratic societies will devolve into tyranny or totalitarianism. Engaging directly with this claim, Carlo Invernizzi Accetti traces the roots of contemporary anti-relativist fears to the antimodern rhetoric of the Catholic Church, and then rescues a form of philosophical relativism for modern, pluralist societies, arguing that this standpoint provides the firmest foundation for an allegiance to democracy.In its dual analysis of the relationship between religion and politics and the implications of philosophical relativism for democratic theory, this book makes a far-ranging contribution to contemporary debates over the revival of religion in politics and the conceptual grounds for a commitment to democracy. It conducts the first comprehensive genealogy of anti-relativist discourse and reclaims for English-speaking readers the overlooked work of political theorists such as Hans Kelsen and Norberto Bobbio, who had articulated the bond between philosophical relativism and democracy. By engaging with attempts to replace the religious foundation of democratic values with a neo-Kantian conception of reason, this book also offers a powerful case for relativism as the strongest basis for a civic ethos that integrates different perspectives into democratic politics |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Description based upon print version of record |
| ISBN: | 023154037X |
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1515/9780231540377 |