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August 31st, 2010

Reflections on summer reading

posted by The Editors

As the start of the fall semester inches closer, we’ve invited a handful of our contributors to reflect on what they’ve read over the summer. We asked:

What are the best books and essays on religion, secularism, and public life that you’ve come across this summer? What are you most looking forward to reading in the near future?

Read responses from Richard Amesbury, Courtney Bender, Jason Bivins, Tracy Fessenden, David Kyuman Kim, Pamela Klassen, Patrick Lee Miller, John Schmalzbauer, James K.A. Smith, Winnifred Fallers Sullivan, and John Torpey.

Read Reflections on summer reading
August 27th, 2010

The sounds of science

posted by Finbarr Curtis

August 18th, 2010

On the call from outside

posted by Jane Bennett

August 16th, 2010

Comparing the incommensurate

posted by Vincent P. Pecora

~ More recent posts ~

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August 18th, 2010

On the call from outside

posted by Jane Bennett

In Akeel Bilgrami’s contribution to Varieties of Secularism in a Secular Age, “enchantment” refers to the historical belief that God or his divine expression is accessible to the everyday world of “matter and nature and human community and perception.” Correspondingly, “disenchantment” refers to that shift in perspective (encouraged by early modern science and its mechanistic model of nature) by which God was exiled from nature.  Bilgrami’s ultimate aim is to “reenchant” the secular age by affirming the “callings” of a world laden with “value elements.” I will say more below about this interesting notion of a call from outside and its role in ethics; let me point out now that the processes of “enchantment” and “disenchantment” are for Bilgrami, as for Charles Taylor, essentially shifts in theological orientation, different views of the relationship between God and nature.

Read On the call from outside

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  • Read more posts on Varieties of Secularism in a Secular Age

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