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After the Postsecular and the Postmodern: New Essays in Continental Philosophy of Religion
Editor: Anthony Paul Smith and Daniel Whistler
Date Of Publication: Mar 2011
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-2704-1
Isbn: 1-4438-2704-5
Continental philosophy of religion has been dominated for two decades by “postsecular” and “postmodern” thought. This volume brings together a vanguard of scholars to ask what comes after the postsecular and the postmodern—that is, what is Continental philosophy of religion now? Against the subjugation of philosophy to theology, After the Postsecular and the Postmodern: New Essays in Continental Philosophy of Religion argues that philosophy of religion must either liberate itself from theological norms or mutate into a new practice of thinking in order to confront the challenges religion presents for our time. The essays do not propose a new orthodoxy but set the stage for new debates by reclaiming a practice of philosophy of religion that recovers and draws on the insights of a distinctly modern tradition of Continental philosophy, confronts the challenge of rethinking the secular in the light of the postsecular event, and calls for a move from strictly critical to speculative thought in order to experiment with what philosophy can do. This collection of essays is indispensable for anyone interested in the relationship between philosophy and theology, political questions regarding religion and in what contemporary speculative Continental philosophy has to add to philosophy of religion.

Anthony Paul Smith is a research fellow at the Institute for Nature and Culture (DePaul University) and received his Ph.D. in Philosophical Theology from the University of Nottingham. He is the translator of François Laruelle’s Future Christ: A Lesson in Heresy (Continuum, 2010) and has published in Polygraph, Political Theology, SubStance, Journal of Cultural and Religious Theory, and Analecta Hermeneutica on religion, nature, politics, and non-philosophy.

Daniel Whistler has a DPhil from the University of Oxford on the subject of F.W.J. Schelling's theology of language. He is also the editor of the forthcoming volume, Moral Powers, Fragile Beliefs: Essays in Moral and Religious Philosophy (Continuum, 2011).

“A superb and groundbreaking collection featuring the brightest scholars in the continental philosophy of religion. The book deals with a feast of topics, and will become indispensable the moment it is published.”

– Kenneth Surin, Professor of Literature and Professor of Religion and Critical Theory, Duke University

“Every once in a while, a collection of essays comes along that does not merely contribute to a field, but redraws its boundaries, repositions it in unforeseen ways. This is one such collection. The burgeoning work of ‘continental philosophy of religion’ is both employed and interrogated to startling effect. This is no tired and worn treadmill of ideas, but a disciplined armoury and an unruly intervention. The editors and authors display a well-won confidence in philosophy at the limit. They are not afraid to take on the sacred cows of orthodoxy or the modish assumptions of the recent ‘turn to religion’ in continental thinking. Fascinating new insights into the modern canon sit alongside adventurous forays into cutting edge speculative philosophy and non-philosophy (the editors’ introduction is worth the admission price alone). Demanding, provocative and groundbreaking, this is required reading for anyone who wants to know what matters in philosophy of religion today.”

– Steven Shakespeare, Lecturer in Philosophy, Liverpool Hope University and Co-Facilitator of the Association for Continental Philosophy of Religion

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