Under the Spell of Freedom
Theory of Religion after Hegel and Nietzsche
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc
Published:19th Jun '24
Should be back in stock very soon
How do the history of religion and the history of political freedom relate to each other? The variety of views on this subject in philosophy, the humanities and social sciences, and the public is broad and confusing. But the grandiose synthesis in which Hegel brought together Christianity and political freedom is still an enormous source of orientation for many-despite or even because of the influential provocations of Friedrich Nietzsche. As Hans Joas shows in Under the Spell of Freedom, a different view has developed in the religious thinking of the twentieth century based on a conception of history that is more open to the future and on a concept of freedom that is richer than that of Hegel. Using sixteen selected thinkers, Joas deconstructs the grand Hegelian narrative of human history as the self-realization of the idea of freedom, setting as a counterpart the sketches of a theory of the emergence of moral universalism. Further, taking the classical views of Hegel and his emphasis on the role of Protestant Christianity and the extremely negative views about Christianity in the work of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, Joas elaborates on this new understanding of religion and freedom, which avoids both Eurocentrism and an intellectualist view of religious faith and practice. The result is a forceful plea for a global history of moral universalism. Under the Spell of Freedom is an important step in this direction.
Hans Joas, for decades now one of the world's most influential social theorists, sociologist and theorist of religion, and diagnostician of the modern age, has written an extraordinary, bracing book about the relation between the modern discourses of about religion and the modern idea of freedom. No one interested in any of these topics, especially no one interested in accounts of secularization and its meaning, can afford to ignore Joas's passionate, pellucid discussion. * Robert Pippin, The University of Chicago *
Hans Joas is arguably the most important moral philosopher writing in German today. This book will go a long way in making clear to the Anglophone world why that is so. * Robert Norton, University of Notre Dame *
Hans Joas is one of the most recognized and renowned contemporary sociologists of religion. In this book, he tackles a center question in the modern discussion of religion. What is the relation, if any, between public freedom and religious conviction? Through a wide-ranging discussion of crucial topics and thinkers, Under the Spell of Freedom takes the reader into the depths of this question. Importantly, Joas draws on his previous work on American pragmatism, human dignity, and human rights to offer an alternative conception of the connection between religion and freedom. This should be read and pondered by every serious student of religion and society. It is a fresh and exciting contribution to the field. * William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics, The University of Chicago *
ISBN: 9780197642153
Dimensions: 142mm x 226mm x 41mm
Weight: 839g
504 pages