As If God Existed - Religion and Liberty in the History of Italy

Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-0-691-14235-7
Verlag: Princeton University Press

Buch, Englisch, 360 Seiten, Format (B × H): 162 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 644 g

Religion and liberty are often thought to be mutual enemies: if religion has a natural ally, it is authoritarianism--not republicanism or democracy. But in this book, Maurizio Viroli, a leading historian of republican political thought, challenges this conventional wisdom. He argues that political emancipation and the defense of political liberty have always required the self-sacrifice of people with religious sentiments and a religious devotion to liberty. This is particularly the case when liberty is threatened by authoritarianism: the staunchest defenders of liberty are those who feel a deeply religious commitment to it. Viroli makes his case by reconstructing, for the first time, the history of the Italian "religion of liberty," covering its entire span but focusing on three key examples of political emancipation: the free republics of the late Middle Ages, the Risorgimento of the nineteenth century, and the antifascist Resistenza of the twentieth century. In each example, Viroli shows, a religious spirit that regarded moral and political liberty as the highest goods of human life was fundamental to establishing and preserving liberty. He also shows that when this religious sentiment has been corrupted or suffocated, Italians have lost their liberty. This book makes a powerful and provocative contribution to today's debates about the compatibility of religion and republicanism.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Viroli, Maurizio

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Politik & Religion, Religionsfreiheit
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religion & Politik, Religionsfreiheit

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface to the English Edition xi
Introduction 1
Part I A Republican Christianity

     1 Republics Protected by God 15

     2 Images of the Civil Religion 21

     3 Republican and Monarchical Religion 29

     4 A Religion That Instills Virtue 33

     5 Sacred Laws and Sacred Republics 37

     6 Republican Religion and Religious Reform 45

     7 A Religion to Live Free 52

     8 Within the Soul 62

     9 The Twilight of Republican Religion 72
Part II Religious Rebirth and National Emancipation

     10 Without God 89

     11 After the Revolution 103

     12 The New Alliance 115

     13 Literature and Hymns of the Religion of Liberty 126

     14 Apostles and Martyrs 140

     15 Masters 145

     16 Regrets and the Quest for New Faiths 154
Part III They Got Too Close to the Light

     17 Two Clashing Religions 175

     18 In the Name of Christ 186

     19 Inner Liberty 200

     20 The Religion of Liberty 214

     21 A Religion That Instills Hope 226

     22 The Religion of Duty 235

     23 As If God Existed 249

     24 Only a God Can Expel a God 259

     25 Leaving Life 268

     26 Twilight 275
Notes 283
Index 329

Über Autor(innen)

Viroli, Maurizio
Maurizio Viroli is professor of politics at Princeton University and professor of political communication at the University of Italian Switzerland in Lugano. His many books include "Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli", "Machiavelli's God" (Princeton), and "The Liberty of Servants: Berlusconi's Italy" (Princeton).

Maurizio Viroli is professor of politics at Princeton University and professor of political communication at the University of Italian Switzerland in Lugano. His many books include "Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli", "Machiavelli's God" (Princeton), and "The Liberty of Servants: Berlusconi's Italy" (Princeton).