Democracy on Purpose
Justice and the Reality of God
Democracy on Purpose
Justice and the Reality of God
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Paperback / softback
£48.00
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 9780878408764
Number of Pages: 376
Published: 12/10/2001
Width: 15.2 cm
Height: 22.9 cm
Western moral and political theory in the last two centuries has widely held that morality and politics are independent of a divine reality. Claiming that this consensus is flawed, prominent theologian Franklin I. Gamwell argues that there is a necessary relation between moral worth and belief in God. Without appealing to the beliefs of any specific religion, Gamwell defends a return to the view that moral and political principles depend on a divine purpose. To separate politics from the divine misrepresents the distinctive character of human freedom, Gamwell maintains, and thus prevents a full understanding of the nature of justice. Principles of justice define "democracy on purpose" as the political form in which we pursue the divine good. Engaging in a dialogue with such major representatives of the dominant consensus as Kant, Habermas, and Rawls, and informed by the philosophical writings of Alfred North Whitehead, this book makes the case for a neoclassical metaphysics that restores a religious sensibility to our political life.
Preface Introduction Part One: The Divine Purpose1. The Freedom We Ourselves Are UnderstandingThe Understanding of Reality as SuchSelf-understandingOriginal Freedom 2. The Duplicity We May Choose Rebellion Against GodTemptationThe Radical ProblemSelf-assertionThe Fragmentary Sense of Worth 3. The Good We Should Pursue MetaphysicsWorthVirtue and HappinessTheismSummary Appendix to Part One: On the Theistic Character of BeliefThe Pragmatic Character of BeliefsThe Implied Belief in God Part Two: Justice 4. Democracy as a Formative Principle Social PracticesThe Necessity of Common DecisionsThe Practice of Communicative RespectThe Democratic AssociationConstitutional RightsFormative and Substantive Principles5. Justice as CompoundThe Principle of Religious FreedomJustice as Separate: Universalist TheoriesUniversalist Theories in the ConstitutionUniversalist Theories in the DiscourseJustice as Separate: Nonuniversalist Theories 6. Justic as General Emancipation Our Maximal Common HumanityThe Principle of JusticeRefining the PrincipleThe Principles of JusticeJustice as TeleologicalThe Possibility of Justice Appendix to Part Two: The Democratic Importance of Religion Works Cited Index
"A most worthwhile addition to any college or university library." -- Religious Studies Review " Democracy on Purpose succeeds in redeeming the claim that metaphysical theism is a necessary basis for political theory, and in showing that 'democracy depends on a divine purpose' favoring justice. This is a uniquely important contribution to political theory and an appropriate follow-up to his redemption of claims for the necessity of metaphysical theism in moral theology." -- Journal of Religion
