Why Religion? Towards a Critical Philosophy of Law, Peace and God

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. Introduction: Philosophical, Legal and Political Significance of a Critical Assessment of God, Ethics and Religions

   • Dawid Bunikowski, Alberto Puppo

   Pages 1-24

3. Peace Through Religion in Moral Philosophy and Natural Law

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 25-25

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   2. Jurisprudence Is About Both Divine and Human Things

      • Dawid Bunikowski

      Pages 27-50

   3. Arthur F. Utz’s Thomism: Domestic Peace as Social Justice

      • Giorgio Baruchello

      Pages 51-70

   4. Philosophical and Theological Aspects in the Thought of Johannes Althusius

      • Gerson Leite de Moraes, Daniel Francisco Nagao Menezes

      Pages 71-84

   5. Living Well Together: Insights from a Philosopher, a Theologian and a Legal Scholar

      • Diana Ginn, Edward R. Lewis

      Pages 85-97

4. Secular Peace Through Universal Religions

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 99-99

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   2. A Theological Justification for Freedom of Religion and Belief as a Universal Right

      • Jessica Giles

      Pages 101-136

   3. Islam, Europe, and the Problem of Peace

      • Zachary R. Calo

      Pages 137-156

   4. Humanity as the Ground for Universal Human Rights in Islamic Law

      • Recep Şentürk

      Pages 157-172

5. Peace and Religious Beliefs in International Jurisprudence

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 173-173

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   2. The Sollen as Otherwise than Being. Notes on Hermann Cohen, Hans Kelsen and Emmanuel Lévinas

      • Alberto Puppo

      Pages 175-210

   3. From Rosa Luxemburg to Hersch Lauterpacht: An Ostjüdische Heritage in International Law?

      • Reut Yael Paz

      Pages 211-224

   4. Law, Secularism, and the Evolution of the ‘Human’ in International Legal Discourse and Global Governance

      • Joanna K. Rozpedowski

      Pages 225-253

6. The Political/Religious Dimension of Dramatic Social Events

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 255-255

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   2. Blake’s Dialectical Theism

      • Bernard Wills

      Pages 257-267

   3. Some Remarks on “Adulthood” in Walter Benjamin’s Experience and Poverty

      • Daniel R. Esparza

      Pages 269-279

   4. The Dreyfus Affair and the Rise of Political Religion in France

      • Anna Budzanowska, Tomasz Pietrzykowski

      Pages 281-297

This book examines the relation between religion and jurisprudence, God, and peace respectively. It argues that in order to elucidate the possible role religion can play in the contemporary world, it is useful to analyse religion by associating it with other concepts. Why peace? Because peace is probably the greatest promise made by religions and the greatest concern in the contemporary world. Why jurisprudence? Because, quoting Kelsen’s famous book "Peace through Law", peace is usually understood as something achievable by international legal instruments. But what if we replace "Peace through Law" with "Peace through Religion"? Does law, as an instrument for achieving peace, incorporate a religious dimension? Is law, ultimately, a religious and normative construction oriented to peace, to the protection of humanity, in order to keep humans from the violence of nature? Is the hope for peace rational, or just a question of faith? Is religion itself a question of faith or a rational choice? Is the relatively recent legal concept of “responsibility to protect” a secular expression of the oldest duty of humankind?
The book follows the structure of interdisciplinary research in which the international legal scholar, the moral philosopher, the philosopher of religion, the theologian, and the political scientist contribute to the construction of the necessary bridges. Moreover, it gives voice to different monotheistic traditions and, more importantly, it analyses religion in the various dimensions in which it determines the authors' cultures: as a set of rituals, as a source of moral norms, as a universal project for peace, and as a political discourse.

• The Concept of God/God
• Peace and International Law
• Jurisprudence and Religion
• International Legal Philosophy
• Christian Natural Law and Religion
• Theology and Peace
• Secularism and Islam
• Monotheism and Jurisprudence
• Protestant Theology
• Jewish Philosophy
• religion and society

• State University of Applied Sciences in Wloclawek, Wloclawek, Poland

  Dawid Bunikowski

• School of Law, ITAM, Mexico City, Mexico

  Alberto Puppo

Dawid Bunikowski, born in northern Poland, residing in Finnish North Karelia, has a Doctor of Law (from Nicolaus Copernicus University). He is a philosopher of law and pursues cross-disciplinary research. He cooperates with the University of the Arctic (as Leader of the Sub-group of Philosophy of Law), Cardiff Centre for Law and Religion and the University of Eastern Finland. His research interests include legal theory, law and morality, law and religion.
 
Alberto Puppo is Professor of Legal Theory at the ITAM Law School (México). He holds a doctorate in Analytical Philosophy and General Theory of Law from the University of Milan. He is the author of Acceptation et normativité: la force du devoir dans le discours juridique and the co-author, with Sévane Garibian, of Normas, valores, poderes. Ensayos sobre positivismo y derecho internacional. His main field of interest is international legal theory, especially Kelsen’s theory.