God & the Other Ethics & Politics After the Theological Turn

The theological turn in French phenomenology has been of great interest to scholars working in contemporary continental thought, but according to J. Aaron Simmons, not enough has been done to bring these debates into conversation with more mainstream philosophy. Building on the work of Kierkegaard, Levinas, Marion, and Derrida, among others, Simmons suggests how continental philosophy of religion can intersect with political philosophy, environmental philosophy, and theories of knowledge. By productively engaging philosophical "God-talk," Simmons proposes a robust model of postmodern religious belief and ethical existence.

This book is an encouraging sign about new directions in Continental philosophy--and Continental philosophy of religion more specifically. Like Nick Trakakis in The End of Philosophy of Religion (2008), Simmons (Furman Univ.) bridges the lamentable gap between 'analytic' discussions (which are the mainstream in North American philosophy) and voices in the Continental tradition (particularly French thinkers Emmanuel Levinas, Jacques Derrida, and Jean-Luc Marion, but also hearkening back to Kierkegaard). But rather than focusing on issues of epistemology, as so much philosophy of religion does, Simmons configures this conversation around ethics and politics. One need not affirm all of Simmons's conclusions to nonetheless receive this book as an important exercise that advances the conversation. His is a model to be emulated. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers/faculty. --ChoiceJ. K. A. Smith, Calvin College, April 2012 Indiana University Press

"We do not have many good examples of how continental and analytic philosopher can engage one another in a shared conversation... [Simmons] uses the analytic philosophers to state problems or to clarify options, and he then develops an analysis of the continental figures in order to show how the basic framework of the problem or puzzle needs to be revised or altered." --Intnl Philosophy of Religion

Partly a collection of essays published elsewhere between 2006 and 2010.

J. Aaron Simmons is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Hendrix College. He is editor (with David Wood) of Kierkegaard and Levinas: Ethics, Politics, and Religion (IUP, 2008).

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations for Kierkegaard and Levinas Texts

Introduction: God... Again--Again... God

1. The Problem: Richard Rorty's Critique of Emmanuel Levinas--or, Why Continental Ethics and Philosophy of Religion Face Political Challenges

Part 1. A Question of Priority--Levinas and Kierkegaard

2. Hearing Divine Commands and Responding to the Call of the Other: A Reading of Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling

3. Bi-directional Relationality: Levinasian Readings of the Akedah and the (Dynamic) Ethical in Kierkegaard

4. An Ontology of Constitutive Responsibility: Kierkegaardian "Transparency" and Levinasian "Exposure"

5. Levinasian Subjectivity and Political Critique

Part 2. Obligation and Transcendence in New Phenomenology

6. Mapping Twists and "Turns": An Introduction to the Current Debate and Suggestions for Moving Forward

7. Reconstructive Separatism: On Phenomenology and Theology

8. Is Continental Philosophy Just Catholicism for Atheists? Critique and Kenosis

Part 3. Intersections and Applications

9. The Religious: Maintaining the Paradox--Wittgenstein and Kierkegaard on Postmodern Christianity

10. The Political: Politics as an Ethico-religious Task--Reconsidering Religion in the Public Square

11. The Epistemological: Between Trust and Hope--Justification in a Deconstructive Democracy

12. The Ethical: Expansive Relationality--Levinas, Community, and Climate Change

13. The Ethico-Political: Following Postmodern Exemplars

Notes

Bibliography

Index