Faith, Fallibility, and the Virtue of Anxiety: An Essay in Religion and Political Liberalism

The relationship between religion and liberal-democratic society has emerged as one of the defining issues of the twenty-first century. Drawing together insights from political philosophy and theory, philosophy of religion, theology, epistemology,MoreThe relationship between religion and liberal-democratic society has emerged as one of the defining issues of the twenty-first century. Drawing together insights from political philosophy and theory, philosophy of religion, theology, epistemology, and metaphysics, Derek Malone-France argues for a fundamental reorientation of religious conceptions of faith and reframes the debate regarding what role, if any, religious justifications should play in public discourse and the law. Through an innovative re-reading of the existentialist notion of anxiety, Malone-France develops a fallibilist warrant for classic liberal norms of tolerance, non-coercion, and individual freedom, disclosing the religious logic of liberal autonomy.