Overview

Advancing the thesis that a contract between the political members of a community must lead to the highest form of social inclusion, Thomas Hobbes’s 1651 Leviathan has provided the groundwork for democracies around the world. Yet, Hobbes also states that this contract can only be upheld by a strong sovereign whose authority is derived from God. How can a democracy be defined as truly inclusive when it essentially grows out of a theocracy that thinks about human beings in terms of “reduction”? In this study, Alexandra Aidler argues that despite modern democracy’s problematic heritage, one should not abandon its claims to religion. Articulating a democracy that is based on the religious principle of giving oneself to another, Aidler develops a political theology of democracy that is built upon two traditions in political thought that have rarely been examined thus far in combination for their contributions to this field: the German Romanticism of the first half of the nineteenth century, as exemplified by Franz von Baader and Friedrich Schlegel, and the “theological turn” in French philosophy, as represented by Jacques Derrida and Jacques Rancière.

Full Product Details

Author:   Alexandra Aidler
Publisher:   Lexington Books
Imprint:   Lexington Books
Dimensions:   Width: 16.10cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.60cm
Weight:   0.585kg
ISBN:  

9781498598286

ISBN 10:   1498598285
Pages:   258
Publication Date:   10 October 2019
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Part I. Laws of Love and Laws of Giving: Franz von Baader's and Friedrich Schlegel's Political Philosophies Chapter 1. The Romantic Critique of Modern Political Theology Chapter 2. History without God's Logos: On the Genesis of Ontological Power in Baader and Schlegel Chapter 3. Restituting the Divine Logos: Baader and Schlegel on the Notion of the Recognition of Exteriority Chapter 4. Politics of Consecration: The Path towards the Kingdom of God in Schlegel's and Baader's Late Writings Unus pastor, una grex : An Interim Appraisal of Baader's and Schlegel's Teleological Politics of Absolute Inclusion Part II. Philosophies of Forbearance: An Exploration of Present-day Democracies of Singularity Chapter 5. Jacques Ranciere's Passion for Equality Chapter 6. Democracy Beyond Politics in Derrida Conclusion: A Final Appraisal of the Romantic Democracy of Exteriority

Reviews

Alexandra Aidler's Democracy and the Divine sets new standards in political theology for comprehensiveness, rigor, and sheer philosophical insight. This is an essential book, one that no student of philosophy, religion or politics can safely overlook. It will be decades before this book is surpassed.--Kevin Hart, Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Christian Studies, University of Virginia

Author Information

Alexandra Aidler earned her PhD at the University of Konstanz.

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