ABSTRACT From Neo-orthodox Theology to Rationalistic Deism: A Study of the Religious Influences on the Development of John Rawls‘s Political Philosophy Keeho Kim, Ph.D. Mentor: Francis J. Beckwith, Ph.D. The purpose of this dissertation is to demonstrate that John Rawls‘s early religious beliefs guided the development of his later political philosophy. By first analyzing A Brief Inquiry into the Meaning of Sin & Faith, I argue that the young Rawls‘s embrace of Neo- orthodoxy shaped his later philosophical view of human dignity and that the central themes of his undergraduate thesis reappear in secular forms in his philosophical development, despite his abandonment of Neo-orthodox beliefs soon after World War II. I will trace the changes of Rawls‘s view on his own religion through a comparison of his main works, from the young Rawls‘s Neo-orthodox beliefs to the later Rawls‘s rationalistic deism. In the mature Rawls‘s political philosophy, I will show that the secular Rawls still holds the Good Samaritan‘s ideals such as fraternity, mutual respect, love, and justice as the motivating forces behind the development of his two principles of justice and the duty of assistance. My conclusion is that even though Rawls gave up the basic beliefs of the Protestant Episcopal Church, he never abandoned the religious motivations that he held in his adolescence. Both the young Rawls‘s theological work and the mature Rawls‘s philosophical thought share the view that there are deep inequalities and other great evils in society and human history. As a solution, while the young Rawls appeals to the restoration of community through overcoming sin by faith, through A Theory of Justice (1971), Political Liberalism (1993), and The Law of Peoples (1999), the later Rawls pursues the establishment of the realistic utopia of a well-ordered society that will eliminate the great evils through the establishment of just social institutions. Moreover, I show that, contrary to his declared rejection of metaphysics in his theory of justice, Rawls engaged with metaphysical themes such as human nature, theodicy, moral motivation, and the problem of evil throughout his career, from his senior thesis to his later works. In the concluding chapter, I discuss the differences between the young and the later Rawls as he transitioned from Neo-orthodoxy to Rationalistic deism, nevertheless emphasizing that Christian values continued to motivate his work until the end. Key words: Neo-orthodox Theology, Moral Constructivism, Kantian Constructivism, Political Constructivism, International Morality, Just War, Urgent Human rights, Decency, John Rawls, Emil Brunner. From Neo-orthodox Theology to Rationalistic Deism: A Study of the Religious Influences on the Development of John Rawls's Political Philosophy by Keeho Kim, B.A., M.A. A Dissertation Approved by the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies Robyn Driskell, Ph.D., Interim Director Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved by the Dissertation Committee Francis J. Beckwith, Ph.D. Chairperson Barry G. Hankins, Ph.D. Robyn Driskell, Ph.D. William A. Mitchell, Ph.D. Darin Davis, Ph.D. Accepted by the Graduate School December 2012 J. Larry Lyon, Ph.D., Dean Page bearing signatures is kept on file in the Graduation School Copyright © 2012 by Keeho Kim All rights reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Abbreviations............................................................................................................x Preface ............................................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgment ........................................................................................................... xiii Dedication ......................................................................................................................... xv CHAPTER ONE: Introduction ...........................................................................................1 I. Goal ..............................................................................................................................1 II. Rawls‘s Life ................................................................................................................3 III. Division of Rawls‘s Transitional Periods and their Relation to His Religion ...........5 IV. Structure and Outline of the Chapters ....................................................................10 CHAPTER TWO: Rawls‘s Religious Transition from the Neo-orthodox Theology of the Young Rawls to the Rationalistic Deism of the Later Rawls ..................................15 I. Introduction ................................................................................................................15 II. Emil Brunner and the Landscape of Neo-orthodoxy ................................................16 1. Background: the Decline of Liberal Theology and the Rise of Neo-orthodoxy ..17 2. Basic Features of Neo-orthodox Theology ..........................................................19 3. The Dispute between Emil Brunner and Karl Barth in 1934 ..............................23 4. Emil Brunner‘s Neo-orthodox Theology .............................................................27 5. Relationship between Brunner and the Young Rawls: Similarities and Differences ...........................................................................................................32 III. Rawls‘s Neo-orthodox Theology: Its Features and Its Limits ................................36 1. Rawls‘s Critique against Naturalism in Western Philosophy ................................36 v 2. The Young Rawls‘s Theological Views: the Bible, Revelation, and God ............41 3. The Young Rawls‘s Understanding of Sin: Definition, Kinds, and Result ..........46 4. The Young Rawls‘s Understanding of Faith ........................................................50 5. The Young Rawls‘s Social Meaning of Conversion ............................................53 6. The significance of the Young Rawls‘s Senior Thesis and an Evaluation on Its Relation to Neo-orthodoxy .............................................................................57 IV. The Later Rawls‘s View on Religion: Rationalistic Deism .....................................61 1. The Later Rawls‘s Memoirs on the Abandonment of Episcopalian Beliefs .........61 2. The Later Rawls‘s Religious Transition: Fideism to Rationalistic Deism ...........63 3. The Influence of Rawls‘s Rationalistic Deism on Justice as Fairness ................67 V. Conclusion ...............................................................................................................74 CHAPTER THREE: Rawls‘s Transition from Moral Constructivism to Kantian Constructivism and the Remaining Christian Values in A Theory of Justice ................78 I. Introduction ...............................................................................................................78 II. John Rawls‘s Emerging Moral Constructivism .......................................................80 1. The Formation of Rawls‘s Moral Constructivism and Main Works ...................80 2. The Basic Frame of ―Justice as Fairness‖ and Moral Constructivism ................82 3. Rawls‘s New Ideas in A Theory of Justice ..........................................................84 III. Rawls‘s Strengthening Kantian Constructivism ....................................................98 1. The Formation of Rawls‘s Kantian Constructivism and Main Works ................98 2. Some Important Features of Kantian Constructivism ..........................................99 3. Differences Between Rawls‘s Ideas and Kant‘s Ideas ........................................103 IV. The Remaining Traditional Legacy of Christianity in A Theory of Justice ...........107 V. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 113 vi CHAPTER FOUR: Rawls‘s Second Transition to Political Constructivism and Rawls‘s Religious Aspects in Political Liberalism ..................................................... 117 I. Introduction to Rawls‘s Political Turn ..................................................................... 117 II. Main Feature of Rawls‘s Political Constructivism and Political Liberalism ........ 118 1. The Main Works and Rawls‘s Religious Aspects in this Period......................... 118 2. The Aim of Political Constructivism: Addressing Disagreements that result from Reasonable Pluralism ................................................................................121 3. Three Ideas: Public Reason, Overlapping Consensus, and Stability .................123 III. Rawls‘s View on Neutrality, the Separation Principle of Church and State and Civil Religion .........................................................................................................135 1. Rawls‘s View on Neutrality ................................................................................135 2. Rawls‘s View of the Separation of Church and State ........................................137 3. Rawls‘s View on Civil Religion ........................................................................138 IV. Conservative Christians‘ Position between the Priority of Faith and the Priority of Democracy in Rawls‘s Political Liberalism ..........................................141 V. Conclusion .............................................................................................................146