Religion among We the People: Conversations on Democracy and the Divine Good

Description

Explores democracy with religious freedom and its dependence on theism. Contents Preface Chapter One: Consent to Religious Freedom: The Legacy of Thomas Jefferson The Present Question Jefferson’s Answers Refining the Question Reason’s Tribunal Jefferson’s Legacy Chapter Two: On Constitutional Authority: A Conversation with David Strauss The Living Constitution Jefferson’s Question: Hermeneutical and Normative The Tradition of Popular Sovereignty Advancing the Tradition Chapter Three: Democracy and Nature’s God: The Legacy of Abraham Lincoln Lincoln’s Political Sentiments The Declaration’s Laws of Nature The Almighty’s Purposes The House Divided Lincoln’s Legacy Chapter Four: On Religion in the Public Sphere: A Conversation with Jürgen Habermas The Institutional Proviso Habermas’s Proposal: A Critique Habermas and Rawls: The Basic Problem The Better Solution The Attachment to Democracy Chapter Five: On the Humanitarian Ideal: The Promise of Neoclassical Metaphysics Kantian and Post-Enlightenment Challenges Metaphysics and Human Purpose Making the Humanitarian Ideal Explicit Chapter Six: Reinhold Niebuhr’s Theistic Ethic: The Law of Love Niebuhr’s Systematic Project Niebuhr’s Ethic: Harmony and Sacrificial Love Niebuhr’s Ethic: A Critique Niebuhr’s Intentions Revisited Chapter Seven: On the Loss of Theism: A Conversation with Iris Murdoch Emphatic Moral Realism Good without God The Loss of Worth The Necessity of God Conclusion Notes Works Cited Index