New book on "Habermas and Theology"

Habermas and Theology

by Maureen Junker-Kenny

(Continuum, February 2011)

176 pages




Description

With his theory of communicative rationality, Jürgen Habermas has been one of the most influential social philosophers of the 20th century and a major dialogue partner for theology in the different stages of his work. Systematic and practical theology, theory of religious education and theological ethics have offered creative receptions and astute critiques. The book explores Habermas's renewal of Critical Theory of the first generation of the Frankfurt School through his paradigm change from the philosophy of consciousness to language. His postmetaphysical understanding of philosophy and the foundations of his discourse ethics are followed up into his recent demand for a species ethics in critique of genetic enhancement. The philosophical critiques of his work that are relevant for theology are explained and the successive phases of his view of religion are traced: supersessionism, co-existence, and finally cooperation in offering specific resources and shared criteria for public debate on the future directions of a technologically shaped pluralist culture.

Contents [preview]

Introduction

Part 1. The Theological Reception and Critique of Habermas's Work in the First Two Phases of Its View of Religion

1. Attraction and Critique of Habermas's Theory of Communicative Action in the Disciplines of Theology

Part 2. Habermas's Theory of Communicative Reason in Philosophical Debate

2. The Paradigm Change from the Philosophy of Consciousness to Language Theory
3. The Relationship of Metaphysics to Modernity
4. Postmetaphysical Philosophy as Stand-in and as Interpreter
5. The Foundation of the Discourse Theory of Morality
6. The Motivation for Agency and the Aporias of Morality

Part 3. The Current Phase: Cooperation and Translation in Theological Debate

7. The Rediscovery of Religion in the Genealogy of Reason and the Foundation of a Species Ethics
8. Religious Resources for the Project of Modernity in Theological Debate

Conclusion

Maureen Junker-Kenny is Associate Professor of Theology at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. She is the author of "Argumentationsethik und christliche Praxis. Eine praktisch-theologische Auseinandersetzung mit der Handlungstheorie Jürgen Habermas" (Kohlhammer Verlag, 1998).

Other books on Habermas and religion:

Michael Reder & Josef Schmidt (eds.) - An Awareness of What is Missing: Faith and Reason in a Post-secular Age (Polity Press, 2010)

Knut Wenzel & Thomas M. Schmidt - Moderne Religion? Theologische und religionsphilosophische Reaktionen auf Jürgen Habermas (Herder Verlag, 2009)

Rudolf Langthaler & Herta Nagl-Docekal (eds.) - Glauben und Wissen: Ein Symposium mit Jürgen Habermas (Akademie-Verlag, 2006)

Nicholas Adams - Habermas and Theology (Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Marc P. LaLonde - Critical Theology and the Challenge of Jürgen Habermas (Peter Lang, 1999)

Edmund Arens (ed.) - Kommunikatives Handeln und christlicher Glaube: Ein theologischer Diskurs mit Jürgen Habermas (Schöningh, 1997)

Don S. Browning et.al. (eds.) - Habermas, Modernity, and Public Theology (Crossroad, 1992)

Edmund Arens (ed.) - Habermas und die Theologie (Patmos Verlag, 1989)

Rudolf Siebert - From Critical Theory to Communicative Theology: Universal Solidarity (Peter Lang, 1989)