Boston University School of Law and the Boston University Law Review are proud to publish this Symposium on Dworkin’s final book, Religion Without God (Harvard University Press, 2013), as a sequel to our 2009 Symposium on his Justice for Hedgehogs. The Symposium includes an introduction and eulogy by James E. Fleming and contributions by a number of the most distinguished scholars of law and religion in the United States and the United Kingdom: Jeremy Waldron, Stephen L. Carter, Paul Horwitz, Andrew Koppelman, Cécile Laborde, Linda C. McClain, Micah Schwartzman, and Steven D. Smith

Fleming, James

English

Fleming, James E.

bepress Legal Repository

Introduction, Symposium on Ronald Dworkin\u27s Religion Without God

Scholarly Commons at Boston University School of Law

Boston University School of LawScholarly Commons at Boston University School of LawFaculty Scholarship7-2014Introduction, Symposium on Ronald Dworkin'sReligion Without GodJames FlemingBoston University School of LawFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarshipPart of the Law and Philosophy CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarlyCommons at Boston University School of Law. It has been accepted forinclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator ofScholarly Commons at Boston University School of Law. For moreinformation, please contact lawlessa@bu.edu.Recommended CitationJames Fleming, Introduction, Symposium on Ronald Dworkin's Religion Without God, 94 Boston University Law Review 1201 (2014).Available at: https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/85 Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2581676    IntrBostoduction toon Universithttp://w the Sympo94 Bosty School of BoThis papww.bu.edusium on Roon UniversiLaw Public (MarJamesston Univeer can be do/law/facultynald Dwark  ty Law RevieLaw & Legach 20, 2015   E. Flemrsity Scho           wnloaded w /scholarship in’s RELIGw 1201 (20l Theory Re) ing ol of Lawithout charg/workingpapION WITH14) search Pap e at: ers/2015.htOUT GODer No. 15-14ml     Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2581676 Abstract Boston University School of Law and the Boston University Law Review are proud to publish this Symposium on Dworkin’s final book, Religion Without God (Harvard University Press, 2013), as a sequel to our 2009 Symposium on his Justice for Hedgehogs. The Symposium includes an introduction and eulogy by James E. Fleming and contributions by a number of the most distinguished scholars of law and religion in the United States and the United Kingdom: Jeremy Waldron, Stephen L. Carter, Paul Horwitz, Andrew Koppelman, Cécile Laborde, Linda C. McClain, Micah Schwartzman, and Steven D. Smith.  Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2581676 VOLUME 94 NUMBER 4BOSTON UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEWCONTENTSSYMPOSIAA SYMPOSIUM ON RONALD DWORKIN'SRELIGION WITHOUT GODIntroduction to the Symposium on Ronald Dworkin'sReligion Without God- Jam es E. Fleming ................................................. 1201Religion Without God by Ronald Dworkin - A Review-Jeremy W aldron .................................................. 1207The Challenge of Belief- Stephen L. Carter ..................................... .......... 1213"A Troublesome Right": The "Law" in Dworkin's Treatment of Lawand Religion- Paul Horwitz ................................................... 1225Ronald Dworkin, Religion, and Neutrality- Andrew Koppelman .............................................. 1241Dworkin's Freedom of Religion Without God- C6cile Laborde ................................................... 1255Can Religion Without God Lead to Religious Liberty WithoutConflict?- Linda C. M cClain ................................................. 1273Religion, Equality, and Public Reason- M icah Schwartzm an .............................................. 1321Is God Irrelevant?- Steven D . Sm ith .................................................. 1339JULY 2014SYMPOSIUMA SYMPOSIUM ON RONALD DWORKIN'SRELIGION WITHOUT GODINTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM ON RONALDDWORKIN'S RELIGION WITHOUT GODJAMES E. FLEMING*I. RONALD DwORKIN: A EULOGY ........................................................ 1201II. DWORi1'S RELIGION WITHOUT GOD: AN INTRODUCTION ............... 1203I. RONALD DwoRKIN: A EULOGYRonald Dworkin is widely and rightly viewed as the most important legalphilosopher and constitutional theorist of our time, and as one of the leadingfigures in moral and political philosophy. In the words of Marshall Cohen,Dworkin's Taking Rights Seriously "is the most important work injurisprudence since H.L.A. Hart's The Concept of Law and, from aphilosophical point of view at least, the most sophisticated contribution to thatsubject yet made by an American writer."' And Cohen wrote those wordsabout Dworkin's first book in 1977! Dworkin's many outstanding subsequentbooks and articles made good on that early, prescient assessment. Dworkin isunmatched and unrivaled in legal philosophy and constitutional theory.Over the years, I have organized a number of conferences in constitutionaltheory, and Dworkin was often the most appropriate keynote speaker. Inconferences at Fordham University School of Law on "Fidelity inConstitutional Interpretation" and "Rawls and the Law,"2 and at Boston* Professor of Law and The Honorable Frank R. Kenison Distinguished Scholar in Lawat Boston University School of Law. This Introduction draws from a fuller eulogy. See JimFleming, Ronald Dworkin: A Eulogy, BALKINIzATIoN (Feb. 17, 2013), http://balkin.blogspot.coI2013/02/ronald-dworkin-eulogy.html, archived at http://perma.cc/C4JS-FJ4A.I Marshall Cohen, He'd Rather Have Rights, N.Y. REv. BOOKS (May 26, 1977),http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1977/may/26/hed-rather-have-rights, archived athttp://perma.cc/6XBF-VPRF (reviewing RONALD DwORKIN, TAKING RIGHTS SERIOUSLY(1977)).2 Ronald Dworkin, The Arduous Virtue of Fidelity: Originalism, Scalia, Tribe, andNerve, 65 FoRDHAm L. REv. 1249 (1997); Ronald Dworkin, Rawls and the Law, 721201BOSTON UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEWUniversity School of Law on his book, Justice for Hedgehogs,3 Dworkindelivered powerful and eloquent keynote lectures. The readers of thisSymposium are likely familiar with the countless accounts of Dworkin'sbrilliance as a lecturer, of how he spoke without notes and with great flair,making it all seem so graceful and effortless. Even more impressive, in myexperience, was how seriously he took his lectures and how energetically heresponded to his interlocutors. In the conference at Boston University on thepenultimate draft of Justice for Hedgehogs, held in 2009 when Dworkin wasseventy-eight years old, he demonstrated his characteristic energy byresponding extemporaneously to all thirty-one commentators, one panel at atime, and elaborating those initial thoughts in a published response.4 I had theprivilege of writing the biographical entry on Dworkin in the YaleBiographical Dictionary of American Law, and closed that entry by stating:"His work abounds with indefatigable energy, giving the impression that hewould not stop making arguments until he put the clamps of reason upon everyrational being. ''5 Dworkin substantially revised the draft of Justice forHedgehogs in light of the Boston University Symposium and incorporatedmany of his responses.Dworkin's work in legal philosophy and constitutional theory was sopowerful and fecund that it could inspire many careers wholly dedicated tobuilding upon it and working out its implications. Dworkin (along with JohnRawls) has been a powerful inspiration for my own work in constitutionaltheory. My Securing Constitutional Democracy: The Case of Autonomy putsforward a "'Constitution-perfecting' theory" that aims, in the spirit ofDworkin, to interpret the U.S. Constitution so as to make it the best it can be.6Sotirios Barber's and my book, Constitutional Interpretation: The BasicQuestions, is a response to Dworkin's call, in Taking Rights Seriously, for a"fusion of constitutional law and moral theory."'7 And Linda McClain's and mybook, Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues, responds tocharges that liberals like Dworkin take rights too seriously, developing a civicliberalism that takes responsibilities and civic virtues - as well as rights -seriously.8FORDHAM L. REV. 1387 (2004).3 Ronald Dworkin, Justice for Hedgehogs, 90 B.U. L. REV. 469 (2010).4 Ronald Dworkin, Response, 90 B.U. L. REV. 1059 (2010).1 James E. Fleming, Ronald Dworkin, in THE YALE BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OFAMERICAN LAW 178, 179 (Roger K. Newman ed., 2009).6 JAMES E. FLEMING, SECURING CONsTrruTIoNAL DEMOCRACY: THE CASE OF AUTONOMY4-6, 73-74, 210-11 (2006).7 SoTRIuos A. BARBER & JAMES E. FLEMING, CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATION: THEBASIC QUESTIONS, at xiii (2007) (quoting DwORKIN, supra note 1, at 149).8 JAMES E. FLEMING & LINDA C. MCCLAIN, ORDERED LIBERTY: RIGHTS,RESPONSIBILmES, AND VIRTUES 3 (2013).[Vol. 94:12011202INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUMDworkin's successor as Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford University,John Gardner, put it well when he said: "The loss of Ronnie takes a bit of thesparkle out of life as a philosopher of law."9 But those who knew Dworkin andlearned from his teaching and writing will never forget the thrill of engagingwith him and building upon his work. His sparkling prose, the staggeringambition and monumental achievements of his works, and the flair and gustoof his arguments and insights will never cease to illuminate and inspire. Weshall not look upon his like again. Ronald Dworkin made legal philosophy andconstitutional theory the best they can be.II. DWORKIN's RELIGION WiTHOUT GOD: AN INTRODUCTIONWe at Boston University and the Boston University Law Review are proud topublish this Symposium on Dworkin's Religion Without God as a sequel to our2009 Symposium on his Justice for Hedgehogs. As Linda McClain puts it inher contribution:It has been a palpable if bittersweet pleasure to read Dworkin's finalbook, Religion Without God, mindful that he had "planned to greatlyextend his treatment of the subject over the next few years," but wasprevented from doing so by illness. The book is based on lectures, whichare so vividly and characteristically in Dworkin's voice that it is reallylike being in a room hearing him speak again.10The book displays many of Dworkin's characteristic argumentativestrategies as well as characteristic substantive arguments. I I In Religion WithoutGod, as in his prior books, Life's Dominion12 and Is Democracy PossibleHere?,'3 Dworkin tackles a polarizing issue where parties are at "war" andproposes that, by dispelling "intellectual confusion" and offering a freshunderstanding of what is really at issue, they may be able to have a cease fireor, at least, a substantial reduction of hostility and conflict. 14 In ReligionWithout God, Dworkin takes on the seemingly "wholly unbrideagable gap" 15between "believers and nonbelievers" in "the new religious wars" in politics. 16He argues that "[i]f we can separate God from religion," this new9 Ronald Dworkin, 1931-2013, UNIV. OF OXFORD (Feb. 15, 2013), http://www.law.ox.ac.uk/newsitem=537, archived at http://perma.cc/F9NS-R3TW.10 Linda C. McClain, Can Religion Without God Lead to Religious Liberty WithoutConflict?, 94 B.U. L. REv. 1273, 1319 (2014) (footnote omitted) (quoting RONALDDWORKIN, RELIGION WITHOUT GOD, at ix (2013)).11 See id. at 1288-98 (fully exploring Dworkin's characteristic argumentative strategiesand substantive arguments as carried forward in Religion Without God). I draw fromMcClain's account here.12 RONALD DWORKIN, LIrE's DOMINION (1993).13 RONALD DWORKIN, Is DEMOCRACY POssiBLE HERE? 1, 2 (2006).14 DWORKIN, supra note 10, at 4, 10-11.15 Id. at 147.16 Id. at 9, 137.2014] 1203BOSTON UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEWunderstanding of "what the religious point of view really is" has the potentialto "shrink both the size and importance" of such wars, or at least to "lower...the temperature of these battles.' 17Further, by framing religious freedom around protecting "a [general] right toethical independence" rather than a "troublesome special right" for theisticreligious people - a characteristic substantive argument in Life's Dominion, IsDemocracy Possible Here?, and Justice for Hedgehogs - Dworkin calls for a"radical reinterpretation of all the constitutions, [human rights] conventions,and human rights covenants. '18 In all four works, the new understandingDworkin urges rests on principles about dignity, responsibility, and theintrinsic value of human life, with implications for limitations upongovernmental authority. He gave these principles their fullest formulation inJustice for Hedgehogs, and many in this Symposium no doubt observe thecontinuity in substantive arguments between that work and Religion WithoutGod.Above all else, Dworkin's Religion Without God, like all his works,manifests an unwavering confidence in the power of reasoning.Some critics will point out that Dworkin is not likely to persuade allreligionists, and certainly not all conservative religionists, to adopt liberalpositions on issues such as the right of a woman to decide whether to terminatea pregnancy or the right of same-sex couples to marry. Or to persuade them toadopt his view that there can be such a thing as "religion without God" or,heaven forbid, a "religious atheist"!But, with all due respect, that surely should not be the criterion for judgingwhether the book is a success or whether it might help moderate the culturewars surrounding these issues. I would suggest that the book might be asuccess, even if it fails to persuade a single religionist to change his or hersubstantive position on religious liberty, abortion, or gay and lesbian rights, if:1. the book powerfully recasts and articulates the arguments of religiousatheists;2. this articulation persuades some religionists to accord greater respect tothe arguments and positions of religious atheists;3. this articulation persuades some atheists to recast their arguments inreligious atheist terms so as to moderate the disagreement and to promotedialogue with religionists on terms of greater respect and civility; and4. this articulation firms up liberal arguments for the rights to reproductivefreedom and same-sex marriage, thereby solidifying the positions of someliberals who have doubts about the basis for those rights (based perhapson the relentless criticism of Roe v. Wade' 9 all these years).17 Id. at 9.18 Id at 133.19 Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).[Vol. 94:120112042014] INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM 1205Judged by such criteria, I daresay, Dworkin's Religion Without God is asplendid success!We are honored to include in the Symposium contributions by a number ofthe most distinguished scholars of law and religion in the United States and theUnited Kingdom. We are especially honored to include a piece by JeremyWaldron, colleague of and partner with Dworkin and Thomas Nagel in thefamous New York University Colloquium in Legal, Political, and SocialPhilosophy. We believe that this Symposium is worthy of Dworkin. We areconfident that he would have relished the criticism and would have enjoyed theforceful engagement with his arguments!

https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1084&amp;context=faculty_scholarship

Introduction, Symposium on Ronald Dworkin\u27s Religion Without God

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

bepress Legal Repository

Scholarly Commons at Boston University School of Law