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Religion, Politics, and the Claims of Reason
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 April 2015
Extract
Professor Gamwell's book presents an ambitious and sophisticated argument, and I have to say at the outset that it is a daunting assignment for me to comment on the book. My difficulty is eased somewhat, though, by the fact that this conference has a separate panel with the expertise, and the assignment, to address the philosophical questions raised by the book. The job I've been given is a little easier—it is to talk about the significance of the book for constitutional jurisprudence—and so I can leave the very tough philosophical problems to those better equipped to deal with them. Of course, my job would be easier still if I'd been asked to comment on the book from the perspective of gardening, say, or perhaps tennis; then I could report that this is an admirable book but it isn't about gardening or tennis, and leave it at that. Well, as it turns out, I want to respond to my actual assignment by making a similar sort of claim: Professor Gamwell has written an admirable book, but it isn't about constitutional jurisprudence. Gamwell is not really concerned, in other words, with the same problems that provoke debates among judges, lawyers, and litigants.
- Type
- Religious Freedom, Modern Democracy, and the Common Good: Conference Papers
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University 1995
References
1. Levy, Leonard W., The Establishment Clause 4 (The U of North Carolina Press, 2nd ed, 1994)Google Scholar.
2. See generally, Smith, Steven D., The Restoration of Tolerance, 78 Cal L Rev 305 (1990)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. It may be, as Gamwell asserts, that tolerance is “a merely pragmatic solution,” (121) but this is precisely the kind of solution that the political problem, as opposed to the “modern political problematic,” requires. See generally, Smith, Steven D., Unprincipled Religious Freedom, 7 J Contemp Leg Issues 497 (1996)Google Scholar.
3. Greenawalt, Kent, Religious Convictions and Political Choice 98–143 (Oxford U Press, 1988)Google Scholar.
4. Id at 120-37.
5. Id at 122-23.
6. Dworkin, Ronald, Life's Dominion 30–67 (Alfred A. Knopf, 1993)Google Scholar.
7. Miller, James E. Jr., Whitman's “Song of Myself” - Origin, Growth, Meaning, verse 51 (Dodd, Mead & Co., 1964)Google Scholar.
8. I am currently working on a book entitled The Constitution and the Pride of Reason (Oxford U Press, forthcoming) that tries to pursue some of these questions.