The transformation of solidarity and the enduring impact of monotheism

Abstract

This article evaluates two opposing approaches to the Western transition from a monotheistic and metaphysically grounded religious dispensation to secularized modern political theory. Where some philosophers emphasize the independence of modern political ideals, others argue that these ideals cannot remain theoretically coherent or practically effective once they are separated from the religious sources that have given rise to them. The theory of communicative action can bring together the insights of both independency and dependency theorists, thereby accounting for the public-political significance of redemptive criticism and other important forms of religious discourse. Yet given that religious groups are no longer embedded within the nation state, an additional and pressing contemporary challenge is to develop an adequate constitutional framework for global society.