Do We Need Religion?

by Hans Joas

The old assumption that modernization leads to secularization is outdated. Yet the certainty that religion is an anthropological universal that can only be suppressed by governments is also dead. Thus it is now a favorable moment for a new perspective on religion. This book takes human experiences of self-transcendence as its point of departure. Religious faith is seen as an attempt to articulate and interpret such experiences. Faith then is neither useful nor a symptom of weakness or misery, but an opening up of ways of experience. This book develops this basic idea, contrasts it with the thinking of some leading religious thinkers of our time, and relates it to the current debates about human rights and universal human dignity.

164 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title (and subtitle) promise a much more sharply focused book than this collection of essays and reviews really is. It turns out to be more of a supplement to his The Genesis of Values than a self-standing book. Still, I found it was quite interesting, especially on questions of the pre-linguistic character of (some) experience, and on the dignity of the human. Joas offers an attractive alternative to calculative modes of ethical reflection so dominant in modernity. But I think I should try to read The Genesis of Values.