Books in the Cambridge Studies in Religion and Critical Thought series

In this book Richard J. Bernstein presents a detailed examination of Freud's last book, Moses and Monotheism. Bernstein argues convincingly that this is one of Freud's most important works. It is in Moses and Monotheism that Freud answers the question that obsessed him: what is the essence of the Jewish people?

This book provides a distinctive account of Edward Said's critique of modern culture by highlighting the religion-secularism distinction on which that critique is based. Hart explores the connection between this distinction and Said's diverse writings on culture, the true-telling responsibilities of the intellectual, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Most scholars regard Feuerbach's criticism of Christianity as important because of its anticipation of the views of Nietzsche, Marx and Freud. Van Harvey's long-awaited book argues, controversially, that Feuerbach developed a much more interesting and nuanced theory of religion than has been acknowledged hitherto.

Wolterstorff discusses the ethics of belief which Locke developed in the Essay: how we ought to govern our opinions, especially on religion and morality. After giving Hume's powerful attack on Locke, Wolterstorff argues for Locke's originality and emphasises his contribution to the 'modernity' of post-sixteenth-century philosophy.

This is a major study of Kierkegaard and love. In Kierkegaard's works, the characters are, as in real life, complex and incomplete, and the conclusions are perplexing. Hall argues that a spiritual void brings each text into being, and her interpretation is as much about faith as about love.

William James is frequently considered one of America's most important philosophers, as well as a foundational thinker for the study of religion. In this new interpretation David Lamberth argues that James's major contribution was to develop a systematic metaphysics of experience integrally related to his pluralistic and social religious ideas.

This book explores Hume's concern with the destructiveness of religious factions and his efforts to develop, in his moral philosophy, a solution to factional conflict. Jennifer Herdt suggests that Hume's preoccupation with religious faction is the key which reveals the unity of his varied philosophical, aesthetic, political and historical works.

Bowlin argues that Aquinas's account of the moral life can be understood only when attention is focused on his remarks about the effects of contingency and fortune upon virtue, agency and happiness. This study places Aquinas more precisely in the history of ethics, among Aristotle, Augustine, and the Stoics.

Few concepts are more central to ethics than love, but none is more subject to varying interpretation. This 1999 book explores several theological, philosophical and literary accounts of love. Throughout, Timothy Jackson defends the moral priority of a distinctive type of love ('agape'), and argues for a realistic ethic of love.