"Civil Religion offers philosophical commentaries on more than twenty thinkers stretching from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. The book examines four important traditions within the history of modern political philosophy and delves into how each of them addresses the problem of religion. Two of these traditions pursue projects of domesticating religion. The civil religion tradition, principally defined by Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Rousseau, seeks to domesticate religion by putting it solidly in the service of politics. The liberal tradition pursues an alternative strategy of domestication by seeking to put as much distance as possible between religion and politics. Modern theocracy is a militant reaction against liberalism, and it reverses the relationship of subordination asserted by civil religion: it puts politics directly in the service of religion. Finally, a fourth tradition is defined by Nietzsche and Heidegger. Aspects of their thought are not just modern, but hyper-modern, yet they manifest an often-hysterical reaction against liberalism that is fundamentally shared with the theocratic tradition. Together, these four traditions compose a vital dialogue that carries us to the heart of political philosophy itself"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Rousseau's problem -- The Machiavellian solution: Paganization of Christianity -- Moses and Mohammed as founder-princes or legislators -- Refounding and "Filiacide": Machiavelli's debt to Christianity -- The Hobbesian solution: Judaicization of Christianity -- Behemoth: Hobbesian "Theocracy" versus the real thing -- Geneva manuscript: The apparent availability of a Rousseauian solution -- Social contract: The ultimate unavailability of a Rousseauian solution -- Baruch Spinoza: From civil religion to liberalism -- Philosophy and piety: Problems in Spinoza's case for liberalism (Owing to a partial reversion to civil religion) -- Spinoza's interpretation of the commonwealth of the Hebrews, and why civil religion is a continuing presence in his version of liberalism -- John Locke: The liberal paradigm -- "The gods of the philosophers" I: Locke and John Toland -- Bayle's republic of atheists -- Montesquieu's pluralized civil religion -- The Straussian rejection of the Enlightenment as applied to Bayle and Montesquieu -- "The gods of the philosophers" II: Rousseau and Kant -- Hume as successor to Bayle -- Adam Smith's sequel to Hume (and Hobbes) -- Christianity as a civil religion: Tocqueville's response to Rousseau -- John Stuart Mill's project to turn atheism into a religion -- Mill's critics -- John Rawls's genealogy of liberalism -- Prosaic liberalism: Montesquieu versus Machiavelli, Rousseau, and Nietzsche -- Joseph de Maistre: The theocratic paradigm -- Maistrean politics -- Maistre and Rousseau: Theocracy versus civil religion -- Carl Schmitt's "Theocratic" critique of Hobbes -- Nietzsche, Weber, Freud: The twentieth century confronts the death of God -- Nietzsche's civil religion -- Heidegger's sequel to Nietzsche: The longing for new gods.