Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nmvwc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-15T17:14:20.708Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Introduction: Pious Discourses of Democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2012

Adrian Little
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
Get access

Summary

Time tends to impose order on the past. We look back on early days and think we discern the outline of all that came after. Knowing how things happened, we assume this is the way it had to be. But the trajectory wasn't pre-set. The chaos we felt around us was for real, and rich in possibilities other than those which came to pass.

(McCann 2005: 84)

However commonly held the dominant nominations may be, philosophy cannot accept them without critical examination. Philosophy knows that in general such nominations are under the control of the powers that be and their propaganda.

(Badiou 2003: 108)

Religion has long been a target for the critical weaponry of modern political philosophy. Whether it is accused of anaesthetising an otherwise potentially revolutionary subject or generating war and political conflict, religion is often derided in secular political theory as the basis of unthinking faith, trust in traditional hierarchy, or mystical fanaticism. Against this irrationalism, the dominant forms of contemporary political theory attempt to make sense of the world by diagnosing social and political malignancies and advocating alternative paths to a better world free from the dangerous competition of political viewpoints or the fruitless pursuit of any number of religious utopias. This book recognises the validity of many secular critiques of religion and the way in which they identify the potential perils of traditional modes of authority.

Type
Chapter
Information
Democratic Piety
Complexity Conflict and Violence
, pp. 1 - 20
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Print publication year: 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×