Essays on the Philosophical Nexus between Religion & Politics : Volume 1

This proposed book consists of 36 chapters written over three years (2014-2017) on the theme of the historical nexus between democracy and religion. It takes a sweeping panoramic cultural and anthropological view on the theme that is in some way connected to the following philosophical conundrums: myth/history, poetical/scientific, political/transcendent, freedom/determinism, ideological/historical, power/justice, law/love, grand narrative/positivistic, hermeneutics, transcendence/immanence, secular/religious, liberal/fascist, freedom/human rights, revelation/positivism, democracy/political corruption, moral compass/power, guilt/honor, democracy/honoring truth, ethical tradition/historical, secular/religious humanism, public/private spirituality and spiritual identity/political identity. All of these subthemes are alluded to in the titles of the chapters and then philosophically explored. The chapters also venture into uncharted territory. From the very beginning, they often challenge taken-for-granted assumptions about history, progress, science, the secular and the sacred. The goal is not so much to solve those perennial conundrums, but to point to their relevancy for getting some effective handle on the varied contemporary existential predicaments in politics, in environmental science and in spirituality. One chapter that will render the core idea of the collection is Eight Scholars Views (Dante, Husserl, Levinas, Dawson, Weiler, Habermas, Eisenstadt and Troeltsch) of the Loss of European Spiritual Identity. The target audience includes the educated layman of a philosophical bend, but it also includes contemporary trends in ethics, spirituality and politics.