Raymond Aron's Response to Irresponsible Metaphysics*
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L Rathnam Dissertation
The Politics of Skepticism: Montaigne and Zhuangzi on Freedom, Toleration, and the Limits of Government by Lincoln Edward Ford Rathnam A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science University of Toronto © Copyright by Lincoln Edward Ford Rathnam 2018 ii The Politics of Skepticism: Montaigne and Zhuangzi on Freedom, Toleration, and the Limits of Government Lincoln Rathnam Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science 2018 Abstract: Contemporary political discourse often centers on a shared set of normative commitments: freedom, toleration, and limited government. This dissertation examines the theoretical basis for these commitments, through a comparative study of two eminent skeptics: Michel de Montaigne and Zhuangzi. Both develop forms of skepticism that are rooted in analyses of the phenomena of diversity and disagreement. They contend that our inability to reach convergence on central philosophical questions demonstrates the fundamental limitations of human knowledge. I argue that both offer novel and powerful arguments connecting these skeptical epistemological theses with the relevant normative commitments. In particular, both take skepticism to advance human freedom, by clearing away obstacles to effective action. As beings who are raised within a particular community, we inevitably acquire certain habits that constrain the forms of thought and action open to us. Skepticism helps us to recognize the contingency of those forms. In the interpersonal realm, both writers contend that skepticism generates an attitude of toleration towards others who live differently. This is because it undermines the theoretical claims upon which most forms of intolerance are constructed. I defend this claim with reference to the various forms of intolerance that existed in each writer’s context, Warring States era China and France during the Wars of Religion. -
Marc D. Guerra, Ph.D
Marc D. Guerra, Ph.D. Theology Department, Assumption College, 500 Salisbury Street, Worcester, Massachusetts, 01609 Office (508) 767-7575; Email: [email protected] EDUCATION Ph. D. Ave Maria University (Theology) Naples, Florida (May 2007) M.A. Assumption College (Theology) Worcester, Massachusetts (May 1994) B.A. Assumption College (Psychology) Worcester, Massachusetts (May 1990) ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS Assumption College (Worcester, Massachusetts) Professor (2016-) Director of Core Texts and Enduring Questions Program (2016-) Associate Professor (2012-2016) Theology Department Chair (2012-) Ave Maria University (Naples, Florida) Associate Professor (2010-2012) Director of Graduate Programs in Theology (2007-2012) Assistant Professor of Theology (2004-2009) Assumption College (Worcester, Massachusetts) Instructor of Theology (1999-2004) SCHOLARLY CONCENTRATION Relationship between Faith and Reason Catholicism and the Political Order Pope Benedict XVI PUBLICATIONS AUTHORED BOOKS Christians as Political Animals: Taking the Measure of Modernity and Modern Democracy (Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, 2010). EDITED BOOKS Liberating Logos: Pope Benedict XVI’s September Speeches (South Bend, IN: St. Augustine’s Press, 2014) Pope Benedict XVI and the Politics of Modernity (London: Routledge Publications, 2014). Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome: Essays in Honor of James V. Schall, S.J. (South Bend, IN: St. Augustine’s Press, 2013). 1 The Science of Modern Virtue: On Descartes, Darwin, and Locke, coedited with Peter Augustine Lawler (DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 2013). Reason, Revelation, and Human Affairs: Selected Writings of James V. Schall (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2001). ARTICLES AND ESSAYS “Scientist, Scholar, Soul” in The New Atlantis, (48) Spring/Summer 2016. 110-120. “Moderating the Magnanimous Man: Aquinas on Greatness of Soul” in Theology Needs Philosophy: Essays in Honor of Ralph McInerny, edited by Matthew L. -
Rethinking the French Liberal Moment: Some Thoughts on the Heterogeneous Origins of Lefort and Gauchet's Social Philosophy
CHAPTER 3 Rethinking the French Liberal Moment: Some Thoughts on the Heterogeneous Origins of Lefort and Gauchet’s Social Philosophy Noah Rosenblum ecent scholarship has taken an interest in the renaissance of French liberal thought in the second half of the twentieth century. This R“French liberal revival” has swept up scholars and commentators alike, and is often thought to include the important French philosophers Claude Lefort and Marcel Gauchet. But, as work in intellectual history has shown,1 the term sits uneasily on at least these two. On close examination, we see that some of their mature thought is only ambiguously committed to liberal goals and rests on complex philosophical premises that are incompatible with some traditional liberal arguments. Tracing aspects of their social thought back to its roots reveals how deeply opposed to liberalism some of their premises were and helps us see how they carried illiberal ideas forward into new contexts. This forces us to take a new perspective on at least this piece of the twentieth century’s French liberal moment, revising accepted stories of its origins and meaning. Recognizing the heterogeneous sources of their argument leads us to appreciate Lefort and Gauchet’s creative work of reconstruction and resist the urge to canalize their powerful social philosophy. Conceptualizing the “French Liberal Revival” In a purely analytic sense, we can understand the idea of a “French liberal revival” in two different ways. The phrase describes, first, a new or renewed interest in traditional liberal themes by thinkers writing in French. We can S. W. Sawyer et al. -
Jean-Luc Nancy and the Deconstruction of Christianity By
Jean-Luc Nancy and the Deconstruction of Christianity by Tenzan Eaghll A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department for the Study of Religion University of Toronto ©Copyright by Tenzan Eaghll 2016 Jean-Luc Nancy and the Deconstruction of Christianity Tenzan Eaghll Doctor of Philosophy Department for the Study of Religion University of Toronto 2016 Abstract This dissertation is a study of the origins and development of the French philosopher Jean- Luc Nancy’s work on the “deconstruction of Christianity.” By situating Nancy's work in light of the broader Continental philosophical analysis of religion in the 20th Century, it argues that what Nancy calls the "deconstruction of Christianity" and the "exit from religion" is his unique intervention into the problem of metaphysical nihilism in Western thought. The author explains that Nancy’s work on religion does not provide a new “theory” for the study of religion or Christianity, but shows how Western metaphysical foundations are caught up in a process of decomposition that has been brought about by Christianity. For Nancy, the only way out of nihilism is to think of the world as an infinite opening unto itself, for this dis- encloses any transcendent principle of value or immanent notion of meaninglessness in the finite spacing of sense, and he finds the resources to think this opening within Christianity. By reading Christian notions like "God" and "creation ex nihilo" along deconstructive lines and connecting them with the rise and fall of this civilization that once called itself "Christendom," he attempts to expose "the sense of an absenting" that is both the condition of possibility for the West and what precedes, succeeds, and exceeds it. -
Books Added to Benner Library from Estate of Dr. William Foote
Books added to Benner Library from estate of Dr. William Foote # CALL NUMBER TITLE Scribes and scholars : a guide to the transmission of Greek and Latin literature / by L.D. Reynolds and N.G. 1 001.2 R335s, 1991 Wilson. 2 001.2 Se15e Emerson on the scholar / Merton M. Sealts, Jr. 3 001.3 R921f Future without a past : the humanities in a technological society / John Paul Russo. 4 001.30711 G163a Academic instincts / Marjorie Garber. Book of the book : some works & projections about the book & writing / edited by Jerome Rothenberg and 5 002 B644r Steven Clay. 6 002 OL5s Smithsonian book of books / Michael Olmert. 7 002 T361g Great books and book collectors / Alan G. Thomas. 8 002.075 B29g Gentle madness : bibliophiles, bibliomanes, and the eternal passion for books / Nicholas A. Basbanes. 9 002.09 B29p Patience & fortitude : a roving chronicle of book people, book places, and book culture / Nicholas A. Basbanes. Books of the brave : being an account of books and of men in the Spanish Conquest and settlement of the 10 002.098 L552b sixteenth-century New World / Irving A. Leonard ; with a new introduction by Rolena Adorno. 11 020.973 R824f Foundations of library and information science / Richard E. Rubin. 12 021.009 J631h, 1976 History of libraries in the Western World / by Elmer D. Johnson and Michael H. Harris. 13 025.2832 B175d Double fold : libraries and the assault on paper / Nicholson Baker. London booksellers and American customers : transatlantic literary community and the Charleston Library 14 027.2 R196L Society, 1748-1811 / James Raven. -
Europe (In Theory)
EUROPE (IN THEORY) ∫ 2007 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper $ Designed by C. H. Westmoreland Typeset in Minion with Univers display by Keystone Typesetting, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication Data appear on the last printed page of this book. There is a damaging and self-defeating assumption that theory is necessarily the elite language of the socially and culturally privileged. It is said that the place of the academic critic is inevitably within the Eurocentric archives of an imperialist or neo-colonial West. —HOMI K. BHABHA, The Location of Culture Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: A pigs Eye View of Europe 1 1 The Discovery of Europe: Some Critical Points 11 2 Montesquieu’s North and South: History as a Theory of Europe 52 3 Republics of Letters: What Is European Literature? 87 4 Mme de Staël to Hegel: The End of French Europe 134 5 Orientalism, Mediterranean Style: The Limits of History at the Margins of Europe 172 Notes 219 Works Cited 239 Index 267 Acknowledgments I want to thank for their suggestions, time, and support all the people who have heard, read, and commented on parts of this book: Albert Ascoli, David Bell, Joe Buttigieg, miriam cooke, Sergio Ferrarese, Ro- berto Ferrera, Mia Fuller, Edna Goldstaub, Margaret Greer, Michele Longino, Walter Mignolo, Marc Scachter, Helen Solterer, Barbara Spack- man, Philip Stewart, Carlotta Surini, Eric Zakim, and Robert Zimmer- man. Also invaluable has been the help o√ered by the Ethical Cosmopol- itanism group and the Franklin Humanities Seminar at Duke University; by the Program in Comparative Literature at Notre Dame; by the Khan Institute Colloquium at Smith College; by the Mediterranean Studies groups of both Duke and New York University; and by European studies and the Italian studies program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. -
Comparison of Constitutionalism in France and the United States, A
A COMPARISON OF CONSTITUTIONALISM IN FRANCE AND THE UNITED STATES Martin A. Rogoff I. INTRODUCTION ....................................... 22 If. AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM ..................... 30 A. American constitutionalism defined and described ......................................... 31 B. The Constitution as a "canonical" text ............ 33 C. The Constitution as "codification" of formative American ideals .................................. 34 D. The Constitution and national solidarity .......... 36 E. The Constitution as a voluntary social compact ... 40 F. The Constitution as an operative document ....... 42 G. The federal judiciary:guardians of the Constitution ...................................... 43 H. The legal profession and the Constitution ......... 44 I. Legal education in the United States .............. 45 III. THE CONsTrrTION IN FRANCE ...................... 46 A. French constitutional thought ..................... 46 B. The Constitution as a "contested" document ...... 60 C. The Constitution and fundamental values ......... 64 D. The Constitution and nationalsolidarity .......... 68 E. The Constitution in practice ...................... 72 1. The Conseil constitutionnel ................... 73 2. The Conseil d'ttat ........................... 75 3. The Cour de Cassation ....................... 77 F. The French judiciary ............................. 78 G. The French bar................................... 81 H. Legal education in France ........................ 81 IV. CONCLUSION ........................................ -
Islam in the Secular Nomos of the European Court of Human Rights
Michigan Journal of International Law Volume 32 Issue 4 2011 Islam in the Secular Nomos of the European Court of Human Rights Peter G. Danchin University of Maryland School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjil Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Courts Commons, European Law Commons, and the Religion Law Commons Recommended Citation Peter G. Danchin, Islam in the Secular Nomos of the European Court of Human Rights, 32 MICH. J. INT'L L. 663 (2011). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjil/vol32/iss4/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Michigan Journal of International Law at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Michigan Journal of International Law by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ISLAM IN THE SECULAR NOMOS OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS Peter G. Danchin* INTRODUCTION ..................................................... 664 I. THE CONCEPT OF THE SECULAR PUBLIC SPHERE....................673 A. The Antinomies of Secularism ........................674 1. The Right to Freedom of Religion and Belief ............ 675 2. Public Reason and Private Faith ...... ......... 682 3. The Authority of Public Reason....... ............... 683 B. Rethinking the Secular .................... .... 685 C. Between Rationality and Reason. ........... ..... 690 II. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN ECHR JURISPRUDENCE ........ ..... 692 A. The Rights of Religious Minorities........... ..... 692 B. Freedomfrom Injury to Religious Feelings.... ...... 693 C. The Claims of Muslim Communities ......... ........ 696 III. ISLAM IN ARTICLE 9 JURISPRUDENCE........................705 A. The Scope of the Right to Religious Freedom....................707 1. -
Montesquieu on Commerce, Conquest, War, and Peace
MONTESQUIEU ON COMMERCE, CONQUEST, WAR, AND PEACE Robert Howse* I. INTRODUCTION:COMMERCE AS THE AGENT OF PEACE:MONTESQUIEU AND THE IDEOLOGY OF LIBERALISM n the history of liberalism, Montesquieu, who died two hundred and Ififty years ago, is an iconic figure. Montesquieu is cited as the source of the idea of checks and balances, or separation of powers, and thus as an intellectual inspiration of the American founding.1 Among liberal internationalists, Montesquieu is known above all for the notion that international trade leads to peace among nation-states. When liberal international relations theorists such as Michael Doyle attribute this posi- tion to Montesquieu,2 they cite Book XX of the Spirit of the Laws,3 in which Montesquieu claims: “The natural effect of commerce is to bring peace. Two nations that negotiate between themselves become recipro- cally dependent, if one has an interest in buying and the other in selling. And all unions are based on mutual needs.”4 On its own, Montesquieu’s claim raises many issues. Montesquieu’s point is that trade based on mutual dependency discourages war. Here, Montesquieu abstracts entirely from the relative power of the states in question, a concern that is pervasive in his concrete analyses of relation- ships among political communities. For example, later on in the same section of the Spirit of the Laws he mentions that trade relations between Carthage and Marseille led to jealousy and a security conflict: There were, in the early times, great wars between Carthage and Mar- seille concerning the fishery. After the peace, they competed in eco- nomic commerce. -
Review Essay What Is Wrong with Human Rights?
Book Review: La loi naturelle et les droits de l’homme 451 Review Essay Pierre Manent, La loi naturelle et les droits de l’homme. Paris: Presses Univer- sitaires de France, 2018, 134 pp., $22.84 (kindle), $27.12 (paperback). What Is Wrong with Human Rights? José A. Colen University of Navarre (Spain) and CEPS Minho University (Portugal) [email protected] In 1942, under the shadow of World War II and the distressing situation of a divided and occupied France, Jacques Maritain wrote a small book which he described as “an essay in political philosophy.”1 The author felt that not only civilization was at stake, but the need to win the peace after winning the war. This required a political philosophy able to keep totalitarianism at bay. Mari- tain was among the most famous French neo-Thomist philosophers, having written extensively about Aquinas’s metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of nature, and ethics, but his own contribution to political matters had hitherto been scarce. It would probably have remained in the background had it not been for his active involvement in the UNESCO commission that debated the philosophical basis of the yet unborn Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The book-essay, entitled Les droits de l’homme et la loi natu- relle, starts from the relations between person and society and argues that the recognition of the dignity of the human person had its apex in “Christian philosophy,” notwithstanding the acknowledgment of other contributions. 1 Jaques Maritain, Les droits de l’homme et la loi naturelle (Paris: Paul Hartmann Éditeur, 1943), 7. -
DEMOCRACY AS SOCIO- CULTURAL PROJECT of INDIVIDUAL and COLLECTIVE SOVEREIGNTY Claude Lefort, Marcel Gauchet and the French Debate on Modern Autonomy
DEMOCRACY AS SOCIO- CULTURAL PROJECT OF INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE SOVEREIGNTY Claude Lefort, Marcel Gauchet and the French Debate on Modern Autonomy Natalie Doyle ABSTRACT French political philosophy has experienced a renewal over the last twenty years. One of its leading projects is Marcel Gauchet’s reflection on democracy and religion. This project situates itself within the context of the French debate on modernity and autonomy launched by the work of Cornelius Castoriadis. Gauchet’s work makes a significant contribution to this debate by building on the pioneering work of Lefort on the political self-instituting capacity of modern societies and the associated shift from religion to ideology. It thus explores the centrality of the notion of sovereignty in the advent of liberal democracy and conducts this reflection within an overall discussion of the role played by Christianity in the genesis of European modernity. It elaborates an anthropology of modernity which explores the relationship between indi- vidualism and democracy and redefines modernity as a project of sovereignty which aims at creating a radically new society, the society of individuals. KEYWORDS democracy • individualism • modernity • religion • sovereignty French political philosophy has experienced a renewal over the last twenty years. One of its most significant projects has been Marcel Gauchet’s reflection on democracy, grounded in an original social theory. Although Thesis Eleven, Number 75, November 2003: 69–95 SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi) Copyright © 2003 SAGE Publications and Thesis Eleven Co-op Ltd [0725-5136(200311)75;69–95;037127] 70 Thesis Eleven (Number 75 2003) already foreshadowed in his major work Le Désenchantement du monde: Une histoire politique de la religion, this social theory only revealed its full political significance in Gauchet’s historical research on the French Revolution in La Révolution des droits de l’homme et La Révolution des pouvoirs. -
Tocqueville Chapter Craiutu and Holbreich FINAL (February 7, 2015)
1 To be published in Combining the Spirit of Religion and the Spirit of Liberty: Tocqueville’s Thesis Revisited, ed. Michael Zuckert (University of Chicago Press, 2015) Aurelian Craiutu and Matthew N. Holbreich On Faith and Democracy as a New Form of Religion: A Few Tocquevillian Reflections1 “Faith in common opinion will become a sort of religion whose prophet will be the majority” ~ Tocqueville I. A problem of liberal modernity? Three decades ago, in his influential book After Virtue (1981), Alasdair MacIntyre advanced one of the most trenchant arguments against liberalism that has elicited a wide array of responses and heated debates. The values of economic and political liberalism, he argued, are based on (what he called) an emotivist and relativist culture which uncritically celebrates the total autonomy of the individual will and slowly leads to the gradual but inevitable decomposition of the social fabric. The main culprit, in MacIntyre’s view, is liberal individualism, the dominant doctrine of the last three centuries that shapes our norms and beliefs and has had a strong influence upon our social institutions and values. As society becomes atomized, so the story goes, it eventually turns into a mere “collection of citizens of nowhere,”2 detached from each other and pursuing interests that are often at odds with the common good. “The barbarians are not waiting beyond the frontiers,” MacIntyre warned his readers, “they have already been governing us for quite some time and it is our lack of consciousness of this that constitutes part of our predicament.”3 2 MacIntyre’s critique of liberal modernity still resonates today and the debate seems unlikely to be settled anytime soon.