| Contents |
Introduction : solidarity, liberalism, and Schmitt's challenge -- Part One. Solidarity through secularization -- When metaphor becomes myth : Rousseau, the general will, and democratic solidarity -- The kernel of unreason at the heart of enlightenment : Kant, spontaneity, and ethical solidarity -- The ethics of the aura : Habermas, the linguistification of the sacred, and discursive solidarity -- Part Two. Solidarity through imitation -- The "other" and the "I" : Levinas, negative theology, and solidarity as sacrifice -- The "essential we" : Buber, theopolitics, and solidarity as fate and destiny -- Solidarity in a secular age : the case of Daniel Deronda. |
| Abstract |
"Solidarity refers to our normative commitment toward some person or set of people as well our psychological motivation to act on that commitment. Liberal democracies need solidarity for at least four reasons: stabilizing society, realizing justice, diminishing dependence, and cultivating moral personality. But they must also navigate a conceptual tension: liberalism valorizes personal freedom, individual dignity, pluralism, and critical reflection; solidarity stresses social unity, visceral attachment, and the subordinating of one's own interest to the good of the whole. Even more dauntingly, they must confront what I call Schmitt's challenge. According to Carl Schmitt, the solidarity liberal democracies need comes from sources they cannot themselves produce, like religion. Thus in an age of declining religiosity and rising nationalism, how can we form strong social bonds without racism, demagoguery, and xenophobia? Can we have not only solidarity, but liberal solidarity, in a secular age?"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-255) and index. |
| Access restriction | Available only to authorized users. |
| Technical details | Mode of access: World Wide Web |
| Genre/form | Electronic books. |
| LCCN | 2022010862 |
| ISBN | 9780197583791 (hardback) |
| ISBN | (epub) |
