The Religious Philosophy of Roger Scruton

In his most recent work, the contemporary philosopher Roger Scruton has turned his attention to religion. Although a religious sensibility ties together his astonishingly prodigious and dynamic output as
a philosopher, poet and composer, his recent exploration of religious and theological themes from a philosophical point of view has excited a fresh response from scholars. This collection of writings addresses Scruton's challenging and subtle philosophy of religion for the first time.

The volume includes contributions from those who specialize in the philosophy of religion, the history of thought and culture, aesthetics, and church history. The collection is introduced by Mark Dooley, author of two books on Scruton, and includes a response to the writings from Scruton himself in which he develops his idea of the sacred and the erotic and defends the integrity of his work as an attempt to give a sense of the Lebenswelt (or 'lifeworld'): how humans experience the world. He argues that religion emerges from that experience and transforms us from beings bound by causal necessity into persons who acknowledge freedom, obligation and right.

A unique and fascinating collection of writings that sheds light on this hitherto unexplored aspect of Roger Scruton's philosophy.

Introduction: Saving the Sacred Mark Dooley
Philosopher, Journalist, Broadcaster.

Chapter 1: What is the Sacred?
i) 'What is the Sacred?' John Cottingham, Heythrop College; University of Reading; Oxford University, UK
ii) 'Scruton on the Sacred' Robert Grant, University of Glasgow, UK
iii) 'The Metaphysical and Doctrinal Implications of Roger Scruton's Philosophy of
Religion' Brian Hebblethwaite, Cambridge University, UK
iv) 'Cognitive or Ontological Dualism?' Anthony O'Hear, University of Buckingham, UK
v) 'A Glance at the Face of God' Michael Pakaluk, Ave Maria University, USA
vi) 'Finding Beauty and Truth in René Girard: On Roger Scruton's Philosophical
Theology' Chris Morrissey, Trinity Western University, Canada
vii) 'That Obscure Object of Desire' Fiona Ellis, Heythrop College, UK

Chapter 2: Sensing the Sacred
i) 'Religious thought and the sensory world' Mark Wynn, University of Leeds, UK
ii) 'Roger Scruton's Aesthetic Education of Mankind' Thomas H. Curran, University of King's College, Canada
iii) 'Entering the Unknown: Music, Self and God' Férdia Stone-Davies, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
iv) 'Art as Religion?: Exploring Roger Scruton's Violet' Vanessa Rogers, Rhodes College and Oxford University, UK

Chapter 3: Recovering the Sacred
i) 'Roger Scruton and the Neoplatonic Theory of Beauty' Douglas Hedley, Cambridge University and University of Notre Dame, USA
ii) 'Of musique with psalmes: Richard Hooker's philosophical account of 'the beauty of
holiness': A Response to Roger Scruton's Our Church.' Torrance Kirby, McGill University, Canada
iii) 'Eros versus Agape in Scruton's Philosophical Theology' James Bryson, McGill University, Canada

Chapter 4: Conserving the Sacred
ii) 'Integrating Religion and Conservatism' Dan Cullen, Rhodes College, USA
ii) 'Roger Scruton on the origins of culture in religion: a French perspective'
iii) 'Caring for the Planet from the standpoint of Philosophy of Religion' Charles Taliaferro, St. Olaf's College, USA

Conclusion: The Sacred as Lebenswelt Roger Scruton, University of St Andrew's and Oxford University, UK

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