The Philosophy of Reenchantment (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy)

This book presents a philosophical study of the idea of reenchantment and its merits in the interrelated fields of philosophical anthropology, ethics, and ontology. It features chapters from leading contributors to the debate about reenchantment, including Charles Taylor, John Cottingham, Akeel Bilgrami, and Jane Bennett. The chapters examine neglected and contested notions such as enchantment, transcendence, interpretation, attention, resonance, and the sacred or reverence-worthy―notions that are crucial to human self-understanding but have no place in a scientific worldview. They also explore the significance of adopting a reenchanting perspective for debates on major concepts such as nature, naturalism, God, ontology, and disenchantment. Taken together, they demonstrate that there is much to be gained from working with a more substantial and affirmative concept of reenchantment, understood as a fundamental existential orientation towards what is seen as meaningful and of value. The Philosophy of Reenchantment will be of interest to scholars and advanced students in philosophy―especially those working in moral philosophy, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, theology, religious studies, and sociology. Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Varieties of Reenchantment in a Disenchanted World Part I Reenchantment and (A)Theism 1 What Is Reenchantment? An Interview With Charles Taylor 2 Religion Without Magic: Responding to the Natural World 3 Might There Be Secular Enchantment? Part II Genealogies of Reenchantment 4 Did Disenchantment Ever Happen? Retrieving the Forgotten Story of Transcendence 5 Theorizing Reenchantment Across Different Value Spheres 6 Reenchantment as Resonance Part III Working With Reenchantment 7 The Eyes of a Child 8 Nature, Enchantment, and God 9 Reenchantment and the Risk of Reification: On Taking Morality (Too) Seriously 10 Detachment and Attention 11 Moral Absolutes and Neo-Aristotelian Ethical Naturalism Epilogue: On the Call From Outside List of Contributors Index This book presents a philosophical study of the idea of reenchantment and its connections with philosophical anthropology, ethics, and ontology. The chapters examine contested notions such as enchantment, transcendence, interpretation, attention, resonance, and the sacred or reverence-worthy.