Challenging Theocracy: Ancient Lessons for Global Politics

by David Tabachnick (Editor), Toivo Koivukoski (Editor), Herminio Meireles Teixeira (Editor)

Overview

Commonly perceived as a direct threat to the practice of liberal democracy, the global reemergence of theocratic claims to political rule is a misunderstood development of twenty-first-century politics. Analyzing the relationship between religion and politics throughout the Middle East, Africa, and the United States, as well as classical and medieval political philosophical sources, Challenging Theocracy critiques the contemporary formation of theocracy.

Providing an account of the origins and influence of theocracy, the chapters in this volume explore ancient texts that articulate the theocratic political ideas that continue to bubble under the surface of political life today. In an effort to consider how regimes extend beyond their immediate institutional and legal forms and find their foundation in timeless ideas, the contributors examine ancient and modern political thought to better understand their persistent power and impact on global politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442619906
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	06/12/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

David Edward Tabachnick is a professor in the Department of Political Science, Philosophy and Economics at Nipissing University.

Toivo Koivukoski is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Nipissing University.

Hermínio Meireles Teixeira is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, Philosophy and Economics at Nipissing University.

Table of Contents

Part One: Theocracy in Ancient Political Thought and Practice

1. Theocracy as Temptation: Empire and Mindfulness
   Fred Dallmayr
2. The Confrontation between Classical Political Philosophy and the Gods of the City
   Mark Lutz
3. Between Rationalism and Theocracy: Plato, the Mysteries, and F.W.J. Schelling’s Analysis of the Modern State
   Steven McGuire
4. The Place of Religion in Politics: On Analogous Gods and the Piety of the Unspoken
   Toivo Koivukoski
5. The Aristotelian Roots of Religious Governance Approaches
   Jeremy Neill

Part Two: Theocracy and Modern State Politics

1. The Non-Theocratic Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI)
   Houchang Hassan-Yari
2. Islamism in North Africa: From Cairo to Tunis
   Jeffry Halverson
3. Theocratic Arguments in Judaism
   Alan Mittleman
4. Saving Miracles: Political Theology and Theocracy in the Schmitt-Benjamin Encounter Hermínio
   Meireles Teixeira

Part Three: Responding to the Challenges of Theocracy

1. Theocracy’s Challenge
   Peter Simpson
2. The Impossibility of Theocracy: The Weakness of the Gods
   Yvonne Sherwood
3. Understanding Our Adversaries: Ancient vs. Modern Political Thought
   James Franke and Laurie Johnson
4. Religion, Tolerance and American Theocratic Politics: Lessons for the Contemporary Era
   Scott Hibbard
5. Shaftesbury’s Characteristics and the Problem of Priestcraft
   Ronald Beiner