Overview

Moral relativism is deeply troubling for those who believe that, without a set of moral absolutes, democratic societies will devolve into tyranny or totalitarianism. Engaging directly with this claim, Carlo Invernizzi Accetti traces the roots of contemporary anti-relativist fears to the antimodern rhetoric of the Catholic Church and then rescues a form of philosophical relativism for modern, pluralist societies, arguing that this viewpoint provides the firmest foundation for an allegiance to democracy. In his analyses of the relationship between religious arguments and political authority and the implications of philosophical relativism for democratic theory, Accetti makes a far-ranging contribution to contemporary debates over the revival of religion in politics and the conceptual grounds for a commitment to democracy. He presents the first comprehensive genealogy of anti-relativist discourse and reclaims for English-speaking readers the overlooked work of Hans Kelsen on the connection between relativism and democracy. By engaging with contemporary attempts to replace the religious foundation of democratic values with a neo-Kantian conception of reason, Accetti also makes a powerful case for relativism as the best basis for a civic ethos that integrates different perspectives into democratic politics.

Full Product Details

Author:   Carlo Invernizzi Accetti
Publisher:   Columbia University Press
Imprint:   Columbia University Press
Volume:   25
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.524kg
ISBN:  

9780231170789

ISBN 10:   0231170785
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   10 November 2015
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  General ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
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Language:   English

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Discourse of Anti-Relativism in the Political Thought of the Catholic Church 2. Elements for a Public Critique of the Catholic Discourse of Anti-Relativism 3. Rationalism: Between Relativism and Religion 4. Defense of a Relativist Conception of Democracy Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Reviews

Relativism and Religion is an original and bold argument that offers a compelling and critical account of how particular religious institutions (The Catholic Discourse) aim to impose their views on politics by using the authority of religious beliefs. This book will shed light into our present debates concerning religion and politics. -- Mar a P a Lara, author of The Disclosure of Politics: Struggles Over the Semantics of Secularization Relativism and Religion makes an important contribution to contemporary debates about democracy and religion. In particular, it offers a lucid and creative re-interpretation of Hans Kelsen's still neglected democratic theory. -- Jan-Werner Mueller, Professor of Politics, Princeton University, and author of Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe This is an important and timely book, which makes several landmark contributions to the ongoing debate on the relationship between politics and religion. It provides an outstandingly well-researched reconstruction of the history of the religious discourse of anti-relativism, and then advances a bold and original response, defending relativism as the most adequate philosophical foundation for democracy. The scholarship is impeccable and the argument both challenging and persuasive: it will become a reference point. -- Justine Lacroix A courageous and truly original contribution to the study of democracy as a society that is structurally based on opinions that citizens form in their free and open exchange of their political and moral judgments and decisions. This makes democracy not easily welcomed by supporters of absolute visions of truth, religious or otherwise. Accetti shows very convincingly how the call for the reassertion of a reference to a notion of absolute truth in contemporary politics constitutes one of the most resilient expressions of the resistance against the democratic principle of self-government from within democratic societies. -- Nadia Urbinati, Kyriakos Tsakopoulos Professor of Political Theory and Hellenic Studies, Columbia University

Relativism and Religion is an original and bold argument that offers a compelling and critical account of how particular religious institutions (The Catholic Discourse) aim to impose their views on politics by using the authority of religious beliefs. This book will shed light into our present debates concerning religion and politics. -- Mar a P a Lara, author of The Disclosure of Politics: Struggles Over the Semantics of Secularization Relativism and Religion makes an important contribution to contemporary debates about democracy and religion. In particular, it offers a lucid and creative re-interpretation of Hans Kelsen's still neglected democratic theory. -- Jan-Werner Mueller, Professor of Politics, Princeton University, and author of Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe This is an important and timely book, which makes several landmark contributions to the ongoing debate on the relationship between politics and religion. It provides an outstandingly well-researched reconstruction of the history of the religious discourse of anti-relativism, and then advances a bold and original response, defending relativism as the most adequate philosophical foundation for democracy. The scholarship is impeccable and the argument both challenging and persuasive: it will become a reference point. -- Justine Lacroix, Professor, Universit libre de Bruxelles A courageous and truly original contribution to the study of democracy as a society that is structurally based on opinions that citizens form in their free and open exchange of their political and moral judgments and decisions. This makes democracy not easily welcomed by supporters of absolute visions of truth, religious or otherwise. Accetti shows very convincingly how the call for the reassertion of a reference to a notion of absolute truth in contemporary politics constitutes one of the most resilient expressions of the resistance against the democratic principle of self-government from within democratic societies. -- Nadia Urbinati, Kyriakos Tsakopoulos Professor of Political Theory and Hellenic Studies, Columbia University

Relativism and Religion is an original and bold argument that offers a compelling and critical account of how particular religious institutions (The Catholic Discourse) aim to impose their views on politics by using the authority of religious beliefs. This book will shed light into our present debates concerning religion and politics. -- Mar a P a Lara, author of The Disclosure of Politics: Struggles Over the Semantics of Secularization Relativism and Religion makes an important contribution to contemporary debates about democracy and religion. In particular, it offers a lucid and creative re-interpretation of Hans Kelsen's still neglected democratic theory. -- Jan-Werner Mueller, Professor of Politics, Princeton University, and author of Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe This is an important and timely book, which makes several landmark contributions to the ongoing debate on the relationship between politics and religion. It provides an outstandingly well-researched reconstruction of the history of the religious discourse of anti-relativism, and then advances a bold and original response, defending relativism as the most adequate philosophical foundation for democracy. The scholarship is impeccable and the argument both challenging and persuasive: it will become a reference point. -- Justine Lacroix, Professor, Universit libre de Bruxelles A courageous and truly original contribution to the study of democracy as a society that is structurally based on opinions that citizens form in their free and open exchange of their political and moral judgments and decisions. This makes democracy not easily welcomed by supporters of absolute visions of truth, religious or otherwise. Accetti shows very convincingly how the call for the reassertion of a reference to a notion of absolute truth in contemporary politics constitutes one of the most resilient expressions of the resistance against the democratic principle of self-government from within democratic societies. -- Nadia Urbinati, Kyriakos Tsakopoulos Professor of Political Theory and Hellenic Studies, Columbia University Since the emergence of democracy in the Western World, the Catholic Church has warned that democracies' association with cultural relativism leads to a new totalitarianism. In this compelling book, Carlo Invernizzi Accetti reveals the origins of this demand for absolute moral and political truths. Against Habermas and Rawls, whose theories accept the submission of democratic deliberation to moral value, Carlo Invernizzi Accetti defends a challenging point of view: individual moral relativism not only complements but reinforces democracy. Clear and convincing! -- Patrick Weil, Yale University

Relativism and Religion is an original and bold argument that offers a compelling and critical account of how particular religious institutions (The Catholic Discourse) aim to impose their views on politics by using the authority of religious beliefs. This book will shed light into our present debates concerning religion and politics. -- Mar a P a Lara, author of The Disclosure of Politics: Struggles Over the Semantics of Secularization Relativism and Religion makes an important contribution to contemporary debates about democracy and religion. In particular, it offers a lucid and creative re-interpretation of Hans Kelsen's still neglected democratic theory. -- Jan-Werner Mueller, Professor of Politics, Princeton University, and author of Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe

Author Information

Carlo Invernizzi Accetti is an assistant professor of political theory at City College, City University of New York, and an associate researcher at the Center for European Studies of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po).

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