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At the end of the 18th century, Kant asked some relevant questions: What can we know? What may we hope for? What should we do? Two centuries later, these questions remain relevant, especially after we have discarded the Great Discourses (Christianity, Liberalism, Socialism, and even Democracy) as outdated. Can we imagine a better project, locally as well as globally, that is carried by the vast majority of ordinary citizens? What are the necessary preconditions for such a project? Following the appeal of Slavoj Zizek, the author explores the potential for "a Christianity without God" and "a Communism without Leaders." He ultimately proposes a sensible and realistic strategy to move in the direction of an unambiguously democratic commonwealth in the future. "This essay is a passionate attempt to salvage the highest achievement of the Enlightenment, democracy, with reason, integrity, credibility, and feasibility, by synthesizing the good and ugly lessons of our Western history into an open-eyed, provocative approach to human society, to Modernity." - Bart Abicht, editor of the English translation. (Cover photo, 'Vanishing Democracies,' by Kurt Franken Photography-Belgium)
About the author
Ludo Abicht (1936) studied philosophy, Latin, and Greek literature in the Jesuit order. He taught European literature and philosophy at the universities of New Brunswick, Antioch, UC Berkeley, Antwerp, and Ghent. He has published poetry, novels, and books on critical philosophy, ethics, Judaism, the Middle East, and interculturalism.
