American Immanence, an important and insightful work, offers an analysis of the existential crisis facing American democracy, and a possible path through this crisis. In developing this path, Michael Hogue asks, “can the feeling and awareness of the precarious value of life . . . awaken us to the precious depths of immanence, to living as if this, our one and only world, matters ultimately?”1 Such an awakening, he argues, is vital to developing a “resilient democracy.” I believe the answer to his question is “yes,” and a positive answer to this profound question is sufficient warrant for exploring the path Hogue sets out. However, there is another question, one with broader implications: can this moral vision be adopted on a wide enough scale to attain the critical mass necessary to develop a democracy sufficiently resilient to weather this crisis? I will explore this second question using the...
Toward Resilient Democracy: Cognitive Resources and Constraints
John Teehan is Professor in the departments of Religion, Philosophy, and in the Cognitive Science program at Hofstra University, with a research focus in the cognitive science of religion, specifically on the cognitive dynamics of religion and morality. He is the author of In the Name of God: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Ethics and Violence (Wiley-Blackwell) as well as numerous articles on these topics. He is currently exploring the ‘pragmatic turn’ in cognitive science and its implications for the study of religion.
John Teehan; Toward Resilient Democracy: Cognitive Resources and Constraints. American Journal of Theology & Philosophy 1 September 2023; 44 (3): 65–79. doi: https://doi.org/10.5406/21564795.44.3.04
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