Between Naturalism and Religion: Philosophical Essays

by Jürgen Habermas

Two countervailing trends mark the intellectual tenor of our age – the spread of naturalistic worldviews and religious orthodoxies. Advances in biogenetics, brain research, and robotics are clearing the way for the penetration of an objective scientific self-understanding of persons into everyday life. For philosophy, this trend is associated with the challenge of scientific naturalism. At the same time, we are witnessing an unexpected revitalization of religious traditions and the politicization of religious communities across the world. From a philosophical perspective, this revival of religious energies poses the challenge of a fundamentalist critique of the principles underlying the modern Wests postmetaphysical understanding of itself. The tension between naturalism and religion is the central theme of this major new book by Jürgen Habermas. On the one hand he argues for an appropriate naturalistic understanding of cultural evolution that does justice to the normative character of the human mind. On the other hand, he calls for an appropriate interpretation of the secularizing effects of a process of social and cultural rationalization increasingly denounced by the champions of religious orthodoxies as a historical development peculiar to the West. These reflections on the enduring importance of religion and the limits of secularism under conditions of postmetaphysical reason set the scene for an extended treatment the political significance of religious tolerance and for a fresh contribution to current debates on cosmopolitanism and a constitution for international society.

Genres: Philosophy, Religion, Sociology, Politics, Essays, Nonfiction

344 pages, Paperback

Published June 3, 2008

About the author

Jürgen Habermas was a German sociologist and philosopher in the tradition of critical theory and American pragmatism. He is perhaps best known for his work on the concept of the public sphere, the topic of his first book entitled The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. His work focuses on the foundations of social theory and epistemology, the analysis of advanced capitalistic societies and democracy, the rule of law in a critical social-evolutionary context, and contemporary politics—particularly German politics. Habermas's theoretical system is devoted to revealing the possibility of reason, emancipation, and rational-critical communication latent in modern institutions and in the human capacity to deliberate and pursue rational interests.

Reviews

[Turbulent_Architect · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jürgen Habermas’ acceptance 2001 German Book Traders’ Peace Prize acceptance speech came as a surprise to everyone. To the consternation of his peers, this lifelong champion of the European Enlightenment left was now of the opinion that contemporary societies were postsecular, that the process of modernization was spinning out of control, and that religious traditions might hold the resources we needed to put it right again. The eleven essays gathered in Between Naturalism and Religion (2005) present the first systematic exposition of this “religious turn.”

As noted, one of Habermas’ core sociological theses is that contemporary societies are postsecular. By this he means that they are “epistemically attuned to the continued existence of religious communities.” To live in a postsecular society in this sense is to recognize that modernized religious worldviews—i.e., those that have adapted to the authority of human rights, democratic politics, and institutionalized science—are contemporary intellectual formations. That is, they are just as viable of answers to the cognitive challenges of modernity as secular forms of thought.

This sociological thesis implies an important political one. In a secular state, legal norms and political policies cannot be justified on the basis of religious considerations. At the same time, citizens who recognize the epistemic viability of religious worldviews must take religious participation in the democratic process seriously. On this basis, Habermas argues that it is necessary for religious and nonreligious citizens to cooperate to translate religious contributions to public dialogue into secular terms to see whether they contain some insight that might be convincing once unhitched from the authority of tradition and revelation.

To this we can also add a historical observation: From the Axial Age onward, secular reason has developed by appropriating concepts from the World Religions. Thus, not only can secular thinking learn from religion, but it already has. As should already be clear, Habermas’s project is monumental in scope and staggering in its architectonic complexity. In part for this reason, some of his claims are left somewhat vague and the links between his theses a little sketchy. Nonetheless, it is to my mind one of the most original and exciting intellectual endeavours of the last quarter-century or so.

[Malik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was ein Buch um dieses Jahr zu beenden!

Ein sehr aufschlussreichendes Werk, welches die Rolle des Verfassungsstaates und der Gerichte als Mediator von negativen und positiven Rechtsansprüchen analysiert.

Speziell die ersten Kapitel und die Kyoto-Preis Schrift sind sehr interessant und tiefgreifend in Bezug auf die Rechte und Pflichten von religiösen und nicht-religösen Menschen. Es ist stets der Imperativ zur Übersetzung der religiösen Inhalte in eine geteilte Sprache zu erkennen, wobei die Religion nicht degradiert wird. Habermas stellt konstant dar, dass Religion uns Antworten auf unsere Sinnbehaftigkeit geben kann, nicht so wie der Naturalismus.

Ein sehr lesenswertes, jedoch schwieriges, Werk!

[Osman Tümay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Habermas’ın ufuk açıcı bir derlemesi. Anlamlı toplumsal diyaloglar için yararlı bir sorunsallaştırma. Çeviri daha iyi olabilir miydi diye düşünmeden edemedim.

[Stan Murai · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this collection of essays, Juergen Habermas sets
out to examine a proper relationship between between
"postmetaphysical thinking" within science and religion.
He examines issues regarding both the philosophical
and public use of reason to formulate some interesting
proposals regarding their relationship. Clearly Habermas
is concerned about the spread of religious fundamentalism
and the confrontation with naturalistic worldviews,
namely the scientific and secular outlook, but he does not
necessarily dismiss either, but instead he incorporates a
non-reductionist account of human language and thought
where 'normativity' and intersubjectivity are central to both.
Habermas maintains that philosophy has historically
developed as a secular translation of religious ideas.
He also views 'modernized' religions as partners in the
public sphere to combat the results of uncontrolled
capitalism and reductionist, simple-minded thinking.

By postmetaphysical thinking, Habermas refers to a shift
in paradigm from a philosophy of language to the
philosophy of language, which reverses the classical
precedence of theory over practice. From these
contradictions, the self-conscious awareness emerges
that linguistic meaning and validity are constituted
communicatively. Instead of assuming the priority of
ideas, Habermas argues that self-consciousness is not
a phenomenon inherent in the subject, but one that is
communicatively generated. Hence, there is this
association of his thought with the title of his magnum
opus work Theory of Communicative Action.

The essays included were not originally written for
this work and some do not address the relationship
between naturalism and religion so directly. Perhaps
the most interesting and readable, essay is the first
one where Habermas reflects on his own life and
the childhood experiences that may have influenced
the development of his thought. The second essay on
communicative action and the use of reason could be
read as an overview of the main components of his
philosophical outlook. But most of these essays as nearly
all his works involve densely written philosophical
prose full of technical terms that would be challenging
to the average reader. Even so, Habermas makes powerful
arguments for cultural and and religious pluralism and
tolerance as the basis for a civic society that involves
the process of a discourse ethics by which the legitimization
of a democratic and rational society allows for the
belief systems of of both religious and secular inclined
citizens. Interestingly, one the essays on the foundations
of a constitutional state was prepared for a discussion
and exchange conducted by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
(later Pope Benedict XVI). In it, Habermas argues for a
liberal political state that neither condemns nor supports
the religiously inclined world outlook.

[Pim]

not an easy read but much more lucid than i thought it would be. really interesting tske on the values and use of religion in this day and age

[Lise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Philosophical essays. I never really liked Habermas, though.