How can modern, secular societies enable collective action, when their constituents lack the unifying commonalities that societies depended on prior to secularization (Böckenförde Dilemma)? What is it about religion that seems to serve to motivate cooperation so well, even according to Habermas’ more recent work? And how can other, postmetaphysical thought measure up to it? In this IAPSS Political Theory SRC webinar held on May 14th 2021, Jendrik Nuske presents how he wants to approach these daunting questions with the dissertational project he is yet developing. A combination of, amongst others, contractualist, habermasian, semiotic and psychological sources are expounded as elements of the project’s current strategy: Regarding the pursuit of meaning as a motivational factor for collective action and thus the common denominator of both religiously and postmetaphysically enabled collective action.
