The Disenchantment of Secular Discourse
eBook - PDF

The Disenchantment of Secular Discourse

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Disenchantment of Secular Discourse

About this book

Prominent observers complain that public discourse in America is shallow and unedifying. This debased condition is often attributed to, among other things, the resurgence of religion in public life. Steven 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 or 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."

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Yes, you can access The Disenchantment of Secular Discourse by Steven D. Smith in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & Medical Law. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
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we 
can 
acknowledge 
the 
need 
for 
greater 
openness 
to 
the 
alter-
native 
modes 
of 
discourse 
that 
already 
flourish 
in 
more 
secluded 
neighborhoods.
It 
may 
still 
turn 
out 
that 
in 
a 
pluralistic 
society 
such 
as 
ours, 
the 
barren 
secular 
discourse 
that 
Jacoby 
and 
Dworkin 
and 
others 
find 
so 
unsatisfying 
is 
the 
best 
we 
can 
do. 
But 
we 
won’t 
know 
until 
we 
try 
opening 
up 
the 
cage.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Chapter 1. The Way We Talk Now
  7. Chapter 2. Living and Dying in the “Course of Nature”
  8. Chapter 3. Trafficking in Harm
  9. Chapter 4. Disoriented Discourse: The Secular Subversion of Religious Freedom
  10. Chapter 5. The Heavenly City of the Secular Phi los o phers
  11. Chapter 6. Science, Humanity, and Atrocity
  12. Chapter 7. Opening Up the Cage?
  13. Notes
  14. Acknowledgments
  15. Index