indiana university press transcendence in philosophy and religion jun 2003

[...]...Introduction Thinking Transcendence James E Faulconer Since Kant, we have been faced with the question of how to think transcendence Until the modern period, philosophy and religion were generally content to think transcendence without thinking the problematic of transcendence Of course, the question of how to think the Divine was a perennial problem, but in a way quite different... in which historical transcendence is, itself, always interrupted and requires constant recuperation We find ourselves in a context that is both determinate and indeterminate Thus, ‘‘Biblical religion suggests that we look for transcendence not by looking beyond this world, but by looking within this world for that which calls us to justice by breaking or interrupting our understanding of justice’’ (82)... question of how and in what ways philosophy leads to religion has as its flip side the question of how and in what ways philosophy criticizes religion The defense attorney in one case is the prosecuting attorney in another *** 18 Whose Philosophy? Which Religion? Kant’s philosophy leads to religion So does Hegel’s But, while both purport to be religion within the limits of reason alone, the religions to... different faiths seeking understanding From the Augustinian tradition we can briefly introduce Kierkegaard into the mix to extend our comparison in a different direction rather than in greater depth Like Kant’s, Kierkegaard’s prephilosophical life-world is that of Protestant Pietism This shows up in the intensely personal and inward relation of the individual to God, in the understanding of sin as willful... Aristotle and Hegel, and his critique is the negative moment in the way his philosophy leads to the piety of thinking that is his Romantic religion Still, if we cannot exactly say that his philosophy leads to the theology of Augustine, or of his Catholic sons Aquinas and Bonaventure, or of his Protestant sons Luther and Calvin (before whose God people do bow in awe, pray and sacrifice, sing and dance),... mythos, of noesis and episteme over eikasia and pistis and doxa, is itself shaped by and in the service of that from which it promises to free us The notions of philosophy as faith seeking understanding and as vision seeking articulation give a certain specificity to the notion that neither philosophy nor reason is one thing Some philosophies lead to religion; others do not Those that do, do so in many different... point differently Since meaning requires context, Vedder argues, we understand the meaning of religious and philosophical claims about God and transcendence only if we understand the original narratives that motivate the issues that give rise to the claims in question Stories of a religious tradition are the point of departure for religious thinking about God Similarly, the question of the being and. .. argues, by insisting on the doctrine of transubstantiation, the Council of Trent was trying to rescue the understanding of the Eucharist from rational theology, 4 Thinking Transcendence making theology a theologia orans instead This means, Moyaert argues, that, if religion is relevant to thinking transcendence philosophically, we will find that relevance in theologia orans rather than in rational theology... seek to understand the whole of being with reference to a highest being, they remain in the ontic realm of beings and fall into philosophy s most original sin, Seinsvergessenheit But this is fatal to theology: Only from the truth of being can the essence of the holy be thought Only from the essence of the holy is the essence of divinity to be thought Only in the light of the essence of divinity can it... about transcendence Levinas explicitly wants to avoid confusing faith and philosophy. 1 Nevertheless, he does not hesitate to speak of God.2 For Levinas, to speak of transcendence philosophically is to have what one says informed by an understanding with its roots in religion, even if that speaking is not itself religious After Levinas, others take a similar approach—thinkers such as JeanFrançois Courtine, . Transcendence in Philosophy and Religion Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion Merold Westphal, general editor Transcendence in Philosophy and Religion Edited by James E. Faulconer Indiana. Faulconer Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA http://iupress .indiana. edu/ ≈ iupress Telephone. religious things, including Thinking Transcendence 3 transcendence. Neither does the inability of philosophy to decide whether religion points to a transcendent being mean that religious thinking is