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ABSTRACT This essay examines Rousseau's mandatory civil religion as it is set out in the Social Contract, with recent relevant philosophical work as a primary frame of reference. Section 1 discusses what exactly Rousseau is proposing. Section 2 reviews why he thinks this "civil profession of faith" is necessary, and considers the underlying anthropology and moral psychology. Section 3 explores whether Rousseau's social contract theory coheres with the civil religion. That is a question of the internal consistency of the Social Contract, and I attempt to put forth a fresh perspective on that problem.
keywords Rousseau, social contract, liberty, civil religion, toleration, belief
i want to inquire whether in the civil order there can be some legitimate and sure rule of administration, taking men as they are, and the laws as they can be: in this inquiry i shall try always to combine what right permits with what interest prescribes, so that justice and utility may not be disjoined.
Rousseau, Of the Social Contract1
the intersection of religion and politics continues to be of great practical as well as philosophical interest. The problems to which that intersection gives rise are multifaceted, encompassing such questions as how to contain religious fanaticism and its many destructive consequences; how to preserve religious liberty and hence some sort of impartiality on the part of the state in matters of religious conscience and practice; whether a regime of mutual toleration requires that some religious beliefs (and not just conduct) be restricted; whether and how to harness religion in the cause of civic virtue (by promoting something like a civic or civil religion); and how to negotiate rival claims to political authority founded on religious versus secular premises. The enlightenment provides us with some of the best discussions of these complex questions, and correspondingly scholars have studied the work of hobbes, spinoza, hume, and adam smith, among others, with an eye to the issues just mentioned.2
on any account, Rousseau's contributions to the debate about the relation of politics and religion also warrant our attention. in particular, Rousseau's Social Contract sets out a distinctive if not unique solution to the problem, one that is meant to fit into his social contract theory. in Rousseau's famous formulation of the question his...