Jacob Goodson, assistant professor of philosophy at Southwestern College, has had an article published in “The Oxford Handbook on Secularism.”

“My chapter describes the German philosopher and social theorist Jürgen Habermas’s usage of the terms ‘secularity,’ ‘secularism,’ and ‘post-secularism,’” Goodson says.  “I explain how Habermas’s usage of these three terms is best understood in relation to his philosophical theory of communicative rationality. Habermas makes a shift from secularism to post-secularism, and I argue that this shift is based on the fact that post-secularism allows for better communication, on the standards of communicative rationality, between religious believers and nonreligious citizens in our globalized twenty-first century context.”

Goodson says that his argument addresses questions raised by Southwestern College students in courses such as History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, and Warfare and Ethics.  

“The Oxford Handbook on Secularism” was edited by John R. Shook and Phil Zuckerman, and it contains 43 chapters. It costs $150 if ordered through Oxford University Press.

According to Goodson, one reviewer describes his chapter as providing a helpful discussion concerning "Habermas and former Pope Benedict [XVI] on religion, fundamentalism, war, and theological endorsements of post-secularism."