Religion in Late Modernity

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State University of New York Press, 2012 M02 1 - 300 pages
Religion in Late Modernity runs against the grain of common suppositions of contemporary theology and philosophy of religion. Against the common supposition that basic religious terms have no real reference but are mere functions of human need, the book presents a pragmatic theory of religious symbolism in terms of which the cognitive engagement of the Ultimate is of a piece with the cognitive engagement of nature and persons. Throughout this discussion, Neville develops a late-modern conception of God that is defensible in a global theological public.

Against the common supposition that religion is on the retreat in late modernity except in fundamentalist forms, the author argues that religion in our time is a stimulus to religiously oriented scholarship, a civilizing force among world societies, a foundation for obligation in politics, a source for healthy social experimentation, and the most important mover of soul.

Against the common supposition that religious thinking or theology is confessional and inevitably biased in favor of the thinker's community, Neville argues for the public character of theology, the need for history and phenomenology of religion in philosophy of religion, and the possibility of objectivity through the contextualization of philosophy, contrary to the fashionable claims of neo-pragmatism. This vigorous analysis and program for religious thinking is straightforwardly pro-late-modern and anti-postmodern, a rousing gallop along the high road around modernism.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
1 The Contingencies of Nature
9
2 Human Nature
29
3 Religious Symbols
45
4 The Symbols of Divine Action
66
5 Eternity and the Transformation of Soul
88
6 Religion and Scholarship
109
7 Religion and Society
131
9 Religion and the American Experiment
171
10 Religion and Vital Engagement
184
11 The Public Character ofTheology and Religious Studies
203
12 Religions Philosophiesand Philosophy of Religion
217
13 A Paleopragmatic Philosophy ofthe History of Philosophy
233
Notes
249
References
261
Index
269

Spheres of Tolerance
158

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About the author (2012)

Robert Cummings Neville is Professor of Philosophy, Religion, and Theology at Boston University and Dean of the School of Theology. His most recent books include Boston Confucianism: Portable Tradition in the Late-Modern World and the three edited volumes of The Comparative Religious Ideas Project: The Human Condition, Ultimate Realities, and Religious Truth, all published by SUNY Press.

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