Religion in Late ModernityState 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
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 |
261 | |
269 | |
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Common terms and phrases
abstract actual American Asian assertions Axial Age Buddhist causal chapter character Christianity civil religion claim conception conditional features Confucianism context contingency cosmic vision creative act creator critical Daoism define determinate developed dimensions disciplines divine doctrine Emerson engagement enlightenment essential features eternity European ex nihilo experience expressions extensional finite finite/infinite contrasts function future gion gious Hegel Hinduism history of philosophy human nature hypothesis iconic identity imaginative structure important instance interpretation Judaism kind language late-modern metaphysical Neville normative objects obligation one’s ontological orientation past Peirce Peirce’s philosophy of religion Plotinus political possible practice pragmatic present process philosophy Process theology question reality relations reli religious studies religious symbols religious traditions representation respect rituals scholars scholarship secular semiotic codes sense signs social society soul spiritual study of religion symbol systems temporal modes theological studies theory thesis tion topic truth ture ultimate understanding Western