Secularism and the Religious Revival

The point of this course will be to look for a plausible liberal/secularist response to religious zealotry. So this will not be objective social science or history. The course will discuss alternative views—of writers, for example, who are critical of secularism itself or who argue that the secularism Walzer defends isn't strong enough. The course will make an argument roughly along the lines of Walzer’s book, Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counter-revolutions, which students will be reading. Walzer will enlarge on Paradox of Liberation’s arguments and respond to critics. Students will also read the most important critique of the book—by two Israeli philosophers: Avishai Margalit and Assaf Sharon.

One of America’s foremost political thinkers, Michael Walzer has written about a wide variety of topics in political theory and moral philosophy, including political obligation, just and unjust war, nationalism and ethnicity, economic justice, and the welfare state. He has played a critical role in the revival of a practical, issue-focused ethics and in the development of a pluralist approach to political and moral life. Walzer’s books include Just and Unjust Wars (1977), On Toleration (1997), and Arguing About War (2004); he served as co-editor of the political journal Dissent for more than three decades, retiring in 2014. Currently, he is working on issues having to do with international justice and the connection of religion and politics, and also on a collaborative project focused on the history of Jewish political thought.

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