Radical Secularization?

Secularization ranks today among the most contested terms in contemporary social theory. Like a magnet for fragments of iron, it bears the miraculous power to separate partisans from critics, polarizing the entire field of scholarly debate. Some insist on its continued longevity; others point to the current resurgence of religion and pronounce the very idea of secularization as ready for its last rites. Taking its cue from the earlier debate between Karl Löwith and Hans Blumenberg, this noteworthy collection of critical essays engages current theorists of secularization and religion (such as Charles Taylor, Gianni Vattimo, and Marcel Gauchet) and attests to the persistent power of this most controversial of ideas.

Secularization ranks today among the most contested terms in contemporary social theory. Like a magnet for fragments of iron, it bears the miraculous power to separate partisans from critics, polarizing the entire field of scholarly debate. Some insist on its continued longevity; others point to the current resurgence of religion and pronounce the very idea of secularization as ready for its last rites. Taking its cue from the earlier debate between Karl Löwith and Hans Blumenberg, this noteworthy collection of critical essays engages current theorists of secularization and religion (such as Charles Taylor, Gianni Vattimo, and Marcel Gauchet) and attests to the persistent power of this most controversial of ideas.

The contributions to this volume represent the cutting edge of discussion about secularity, encompassing some of the most important debates about transformations of religious practice, material and symbolic representation, the meanings of transcendence, global perspectives and local religions, and the unsteadiness of the ‘immanent frame.’

Stijn Latré is Lecturer at the University of Antwerp, Belgium.

Walter Van Herck is Assistant Professor at the Department of Philosophy and the Centre Pieter Gillis of the University of Antwerp, Belgium. He is the co-editor of Humour and Religion (2011) and The Sacred in the City (2012). He is Editor-in-Chief of Bijdragen, International Journal in Theology and Philosophy.

Guido Vanheeswijck is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, and is part-time professor at the Institute of Philosophy at KU Leuven, Belgium. He is a member of the editorial board of the journals Bijdragen and Collingwood and British Idealism Studies.