Wayne Hudson

Book Review: Faith in Public Life: W.J. Collinge (ed.) Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2008

In recent decades public theology has emerged as a new discourse in Christian theology with its own international journal and its own Global Network, currently hosted by Charles Sturt University

Towards Post-Secular Enlightenment

This chapter introduces the theme of postsecular Enlightenment. It does so by arguing that we need to reverse the anti-spiritual bias of the European Enlightenment and to apply reason to both the reform of human affairs and to human spiritual performances. Specifically, I argue that the Enlightenment’s critique of religion is flawed and leads to a misguided exclusion of spirituality from serious concerns. I then evaluate and reject postreligion as a possible response to the inadequacies of both secularism and religion on the grounds that it lacks the relevant organizational specificity. Finally, I have offer an initial draft of a postsecular approach to contemporary governance.

Philosophy, Theology, and the Humanities

Summary This paper addresses the relation between the natural sciences and the humanities with reference to the work of Ian Hunter. It discusses the history of, role of philosophy in, and value of the humanities; the question of historicism; the issue of critique; and the role of theology in the humanities, all matters raised by Hunters work. The paper suggests that a reinvented humanities might pay more attention to philosophy and the sciences, including theology. It asks how far such a perspective is compatible with Ian Hunters pioneering work on the humanities and intellectual history. The paper concludes that a middle position, one between Hunters historicising and an emphasis on naturalistic constraints, may be possible.

Theology and Historicism

This paper discusses attempts to think historicity in the work of the theologian Rudolf Bultmann and the German philosopher Hans Blumenberg. It then draws on the work of the Jesuit theologian Robert Doran in order to suggest how an historical pragmatics without historicism might be relevant to a future theology with social import.

Religion and the State: A Comparative Sociology

General invite Bruce to form government, believing that the ongoing tension between Nationalist and Country parties would soon bring the new government down. Hughes was wrong and Bruce, together with Country Party leader Earle Page, led the way in nationbuilding measures that advanced the powers of the Commonwealth at the expense of the states, and as part of a confident British world: men, money and markets from Britain driving Australian development and progressing the cause of an enlightened empire. The creation of the Australian Loan Council in 1927, a ‘supra-federal’ body, was a reform that would make a lasting contribution to Australian financial governance and federalism. Bruce’s hold on a fractious coalition was ultimately undone in 1929 by deteriorating economic conditions and his hard line against union militancy, including legislative provision to deport foreign-born agitators. Ten years later, as Joe Lyons’ health was failing, Bruce missed another chance to return to Australian politics, possibly as leader. In circumstances that could not have been foreseen, this domestic failure provided Bruce with extraordinary opportunities to work in the broader realm of international relations. In fact, Bruce’s long term as Resident Minister then High Commissioner in London, 1932– 45, saw him as one of the most active in the formulation and implementation of Australian foreign and overseas economic policy. As Lee has signalled, one of his main aims is to show Bruce as an early internationalist, tempered by his dedication to the flourishing of an enlightened British empire, and, in turn, this goal tempered by his defence of Australian interests. The imperatives of national interest and the exigencies of Depression and then the Second World War were formidable constraints, but it was his internationalism, his belief in the good that would arise from greater levels of international cooperation in different spheres of activity, that lay at the core of his outlook. Bruce was supportive of the League of Nations and of its incremental unfolding in a manner that might enable expanding membership, including that of key nations such as the United States and Germany. Representing Australia at the League in the early 1930s, Bruce championed greater levels of international coordination and cooperation in economic and social activity, a theme he would return to later. In his advocacy, he anticipated the key themes of the Atlantic Charter of 1941 and formation of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and its Economic and Social Council. Bruce got things wrong, too: he misjudged Hitler and was inclined to appease for too long; and although he correctly took umbrage at Churchill’s cavalier treatment of Australian interests during the war, he only alienated Churchill with his criticisms. But, as Lee shows in this engaging and scholarly biography, he was an Australian whose work on the international stage has been forgotten too easily.

Religion and theory

Abstract Mark C. Taylor is an internationally renowned scholar of religion. This essay, however, problematises Taylor’s use of ‘Theory’, especially in his earlier work. It argues that Taylor’s commitment to aesthetic transcendentalism limits his contributions to explanatory and heuristic theory. While not denying Taylor’s originality or the merits of his contributions to performative theory, it suggests that the pattern of Taylor’s development as a religious studies intellectual illustrates a logically problematic use of Theory in the Humanities.

Convergence and Its Limits: Relations Between Analytic and Continental Philosophy

Abstract In this article, it is argued that a convergence between the (post-)analytic and continental traditions in philosophy is unlikely. Both traditions have fundamentally different approaches to questions concerning consciousness and subjectivity. They also differ in their conception of the role of philosophy, if we are to become autonomous and reflective humans beings.To illustrate this, a comparison is made between the work of the continental philosopher Dieter Henrich and the ‘post-analytic’ philosopher Thomas Nagel, who is often seen as a typical ‘converger‘.