REL 286(S) Religion and Contemporary Continental Philosophy

The contemporary or postmodern age has often been thought of as an age in which, at least in intellectual circles, God is dead and religious questions are not discussed in polite company. This course wants to explore these assumptions by inquiring into the possible connections between selected contemporary thinkers and religious thought. Is the postmodern age antithetical to theological thought? Does it in fact owe a great debt to theological thought? Does it open new possibilities for religious thought? In asking these questions, this course becomes a new occasion for thinking about the relation of religious and philosophical thought in a distinctly contemporary context. More particularly, the course provides an occasion to reflect on the role of the Jewish and Christian tradition in some of the most important thinkers in contemporary continental philosophy. Reading: G. W. F. Hegel; Friedrich Nietzsche; Martin Heidegger; Jacques Derrida; Emmanuel Levinas; Jean-Luc Marion; selections from representative theologians or religious thinkers from the Jewish and Christian traditions (e.g. the Bible, rabbinic literature, Pseudo-Dionysios, Thomas Aquinas). Class format: discussion. Requirements: full attendance and participation; mid-term paper; final paper (12 pages). Open to all classes without prerequisite. (This course is part of the Jewish Studies cluster.)

Hour: KOSKY