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Democratic states must protect the liberty of citizens and must accommodate both religious liberty and cultural diversity. This democratic imperative is one reason for the increasing secularity of most modern democracies. Religious citizens, however, commonly see a secular state as unfriendly toward religion. This book articulates principles that enable secular governments to protect liberty in a way that judiciously separates church and state and fully respects
religious citizens.After presenting a brief account of the relation between religion and ethics, the book shows how ethics can be independent of religion-evidentially autonomous in
a way that makes moral knowledge possible for secular citizens--without denying religious sources a moral authority of their own. With this account in view, it portrays a church-state separation that requires governments not only to avoid religious establishment but also to maintain religious neutrality. The book shows how religious neutrality is related to such issues as teaching evolutionary biology in public schools, the legitimacy of vouchers to fund private schooling, and governmental
support of "faith-based initiatives." The final chapter shows how the proposed theory of religion and politics incorporates toleration and forgiveness as elements in flourishing democracies. Tolerance and
forgiveness are described; their role in democratic citizenship is clarified; and in this light a conception of civic virtue is proposed. Overall, the book advances the theory of liberal democracy, clarifies the relation between religion and ethics, provides distinctive principles governing religion in politics, and provides a theory of toleration for pluralistic societies. It frames institutional principles to guide governmental policy toward religion; it articulates
citizenship standards for political conduct by individuals; it examines the case for affirming these two kinds of standards on the basis of what, historically, has been called natural reason; and it
defends an account of toleration that enhances the practical application of the ethical framework both in individual nations and in the international realm.
Democratic states must protect the liberty of citizens and must accommodate both religious liberty and cultural diversity. This democratic imperative is one reason for the increasing secularity of most modern democracies. Religious citizens, however, commonly see a secular state as unfriendly toward religion. This book articulates principles that enable secular governments to protect liberty in a way that judiciously separates church and state and fully respects
religious citizens.After presenting a brief account of the relation between religion and ethics, the book shows how ethics can be independent of religion-evidentially autonomous in
a way that makes moral knowledge possible for secular citizens--without denying religious sources a moral authority of their own. With this account in view, it portrays a church-state separation that requires governments not only to avoid religious establishment but also to maintain religious neutrality. The book shows how religious neutrality is related to such issues as teaching evolutionary biology in public schools, the legitimacy of vouchers to fund private schooling, and governmental
support of "faith-based initiatives." The final chapter shows how the proposed theory of religion and politics incorporates toleration and forgiveness as elements in flourishing democracies. Tolerance and
forgiveness are described; their role in democratic citizenship is clarified; and in this light a conception of civic virtue is proposed. Overall, the book advances the theory of liberal democracy, clarifies the relation between religion and ethics, provides distinctive principles governing religion in politics, and provides a theory of toleration for pluralistic societies. It frames institutional principles to guide governmental policy toward religion; it articulates
citizenship standards for political conduct by individuals; it examines the case for affirming these two kinds of standards on the basis of what, historically, has been called natural reason; and it
defends an account of toleration that enhances the practical application of the ethical framework both in individual nations and in the international realm.
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Autonomy of Ethics and the Moral Authority of Religion
I. The Autonomy of Ethics
II. Moral Knowledge: General and Particular
III. Religion, Theology, and Ethics
IV. Theoethical Equilibrium: The Integration of Religion and
Ethics
V. Divine Command Ethics and Secular Morality
2. The Liberty of Citizens and the Responsibilities of
Government
I. The Separation of Church and State and the Limits of Democratic
Authority
II. The Liberty Principle and the Scope of Religious Freedom
III. The Equality Principle and the Case Against Establishment
IV. The Neutrality Principle: Accommodationist Secularity
V. Religious Neutrality, Valuational Neutrality, and Public
Policy
3. The Secular State and the Religious Citizen
I. Freedom of Expression in the Advocacy of Laws and Public
Policies
II. Major Principles Governing the Advocacy of Laws and Public
Policies
III. The Charge of Exclusivism toward Religious Reasons
IV. Natural Reason, Secularity, and Religious Convictions
V. Religious Reasons, Political Decision, and Toleration
VI. Privatization Versus Activism: The Place of Religious
Considerations in Public Political Discourse
4. Democratic Tolerance and Religious Obligation in a Globalized
World
I. The Nature of Tolerance
II. Is Tolerance a Virtue?
III. Toleration and Forgiveness
IV. The Normative Standards for Democratic Toleration
V. Religion in the Workplace as a Test Case for a Theory of
Toleration
VI, Cosmopolitanism as a Framework for Tolerance
VII. Civic Virtue and Democratic Participation
VIII. International Implications of the Framework
Conclusion
Notes
Index
Robert Audi is an internationally distinguished contributor to ethics, theory of knowledge, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of action. He has published numerous books and papers in all these fields and lectures widely in these areas and, more recently, in business ethics. He is a past president of the American Philosophical Association and the subject of a critical volume containing thirteen critical essays and his responses.
"The book summarizes, in 155 small pages of text, arguments [Audi]
has been developing for more than 20 years. It is engagingly
written and easy to read, with the analytic clarity that is Audi's
great strength This is an important book, because it is the latest
statement of a widely held position by one of the leading writers
in the field."-- Andrew Koppelman, Notre Dame Philosophical
Reviews
"Robert Audi makes a very important and timely contribution to
political philosophy and especially to the rising debates over the
proper place for religiously based ideas in the political
sphere."--Religion
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