Religion in the Secular Age: Perspectives from the Humanities

Published by De Gruyter 2023

Religion in the Secular Age

Perspectives from the Humanities

Edited by: Herta Nagl-Docekal and Waldemar Zacharasiewicz

Volume 22 in the series Wiener Reihe

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111247878

Overview
Contents

About this book

What does it mean to be religious believers for people whose living conditions are defined by an increasingly secularized environment? Is the common distinction between faith and knowledge valid? The 21 essays cover approaches from various fields of the humanities. Some explore post-Kantian thoughts, discussing, i.a., American Pragmatism, M. Buber, M. Horkheimer, H. Putnam, J. Habermas, Ch. Taylor and variants of deconstruction, while other essays focus on ways in which the conflict between agnostics and seekers is addressed in US literary works, as in Fl. O’Connor, W. Percy, N. Hawthorne, J. Updike and in novels dealing with pandemics, for instance by L. Wright, E. M. Wiseman and R. Cook. Historical studies examine the intermingling of the sacred and the secular in the American South and neo-scholastic objections to modernity. Theological issues are being re-framed in essays discussing the relevance of pluralism, the relation of religious conviction and public opinion, the situation of scientists who believe and the thoughts of N. Frye and M. McLuhan. Finally, essays pay attention to religious aspects in works of art, e.g. in Ukrainian poetry, G. Mahler’s symphonies and in a TV show presenting new “American Gods” of globalization.

Author / Editor information

Herta Nagl-Docekal and Waldemar Zacharasiewicz, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Introduction: Religion in the Secular Age Herta Nagl-Docekal and Waldemar Zacharasiewicz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I Post-Kantian Approaches to Religion
God as the Infinite: Martin Buber’s Interpretation of Kant’s Concept of Religion Irene Kajon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
(Secular) Theodicy, Antitheodicy, and the Critique of Meaning: Pragmatist Reflections Sami Pihlström Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
Beyond Dogmatic Scientism: Hilary Putnam on Religious Faith Ludwig Nagl Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
Angles and Angels: Charles Taylor and Steven Pinker on Moral Progress in History Ruth Abbey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
Part II Religion in Critical Theory and Deconstruction
Benjamin’s Time of Healing: The Messianic as Remembrance, Happiness, and Justice Brendan Moran Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
Re-considering the Distinction between Atheists and Believers, or: Max Horkheimer’s Reading of Kant Herta Nagl-Docekal Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
Defining What is “Extraterritorial”: Religion and Utopia in Habermas and Ricoeur Maureen Junker-Kenny Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
Secularizing Both Religion and Reason: Upending the Secular/Religious Distinction John D. Caputo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
This Incredible Need to Believe: Julia Kristeva’s Reinvention of Secular Humanism at the Crossroad of Religion, Psychoanalysis, and Politics Getrude Postl Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
Part III Religion in U.S. Literature and Politics in a Global Context
Critical Perspectives on Self-Sufficing Humanism in Southern Fiction Waldemar Zacharasiewicz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
The Southern Civil Religion: The Intermingling of the Sacred and the Secular in the American South Charles Reagan Wilson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
Catholicism in Defense? Roman Catholic Answers to the Quest for Modernity Michael Hochgeschwender Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Competing Quests for a Hidden God in John Updike’s Roger’s Version Manfred Siebald Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
Science and Religion in U.S.-American Pandemic Literature Carmen Birkle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237
Part IV Re-Framing Theological Issues and Individual Convictions
Philosophical Pluralism and Religious Faith in a Secular Age William Sweet Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	257
Religious Convictions and Public Reason: On the Way to a Two-Stage Epistemology of Religion Klaus Viertbauer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
Scientists Who Believe: From Louis Agassiz to Katharine Hayhoe Christoph Irmscher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297
Northrop Frye and Marshall McLuhan: Two Canadian Christian Thinkers David Staines Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	307
Part V Religion in Poetry, Music and Visual Media
Religious Aspects of Ukrainian Poetry – The Case of Vasyl′ Stus Alois Woldan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	321
Gustav Mahler’s Symphonic Transcendence and Its Counterparts Federico Celestini Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	337
Serial Baroque in the TV Show American Gods Jörg Türschmann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	349
List of Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	361
Index of Authors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	367
Index of Subjects Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	371

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars in philosophy of religion, theology, cultural studies, political theory, American and Canadian studies, history
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 376
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 7
Keywords: Critical Theory; American pragmatism; Jewish philosophy; Existential crises in literature

eBook

Published: September 5, 2023
ISBN: 9783111247878

Hardcover

Published: September 5, 2023
ISBN: 9783111247441