The End of TheologyPublication of The Alchemy of the Word in 1979 brought the deconstructive philosophy of Jacques Derrida into the arena of theological discourse & marked the end of theology as it had been understood by many. This work, revised & reissued as The End of Theology, is an important contribution to understanding the possibilities of a creative postmodern secular theology. The first chapter examines the aims & the shortcomings of language analysis as used in the examination of religious & theological statements. The second chapter investigates the broader spectrum of modern theories about the nature of language. The third chapter recapitulates the rudiments of Heidegger's thought. The fourth chapter moves out of Heidegger & toward a resolution of the problems of meaning & interpretation in proposing a "radical hermeneutics." The fifth chapter discusses the way in which a radical hermeneutics must undermine conventional theological procedures & secure a view of religious speech that is prior to "God-language" or to the "Word of God." Such a view is directed to what Heidegger takes as the "ordinary" logos that is both a pre-Christian & a post-Christian context of "revelation." The final chapter criticizes Heidegger's own "mystifications" about language & endeavors to take his thought one major step beyond. Carl Raschke is professor of religious studies at the University of Denver & senior editor of the Journal for Cultural & Religious Theory. His major books include The End of Theology, Fire & Roses: Postmodernity & the Thought of the Body, The Engendering God, Painted Black & Theological Thinking. |
Contents
The Linguistic Turn | 1 |
Glimmerings of Transcendence | 17 |
Martin Heideggers Understanding | 51 |
Copyright | |
1 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
analysis Baudrillard Buber certainty certitude concept contemporary conventionalist deconstruction Derrida difference discourse divine eidos ence end of theology Er-eignis essay essential event experience experior G. E. M. Anscombe Gadamer grammar Grammatology Greek ground guage Harper & Row Hegel Heidegger's herme historical human interpretation Kaufman kind linguistic turn logical logos Ludwig Wittgenstein Martin Buber Martin Heidegger mean-ing meaning meaning-as-use meaning-presentation merely metalanguage metaphor metaphysics of signs method mode modern Nature of Language neutics Nietzsche notion object ontological ordinary language philosophy origin originary P. F. Strawson parousia Paul Ricoeur poetic poetry presence present-at-hand primordial R. G. Collingwood radical hermeneutics re-presentation re-presented reality reference religious language revelation Ricoeur secular semantic semiotic sense sentence signified simply speak speech structure symbol syntactical syntax tensive language theory thing thinking thought Tillich tion trace tradition trans transcendence truth ultimate University Press unsaid Western metaphysics what-is Wheelwright Wittgenstein word York