Kotsko on O’Regan

Adam Kotsko has written a nice summary review of O’Regan’s Gnostic Return in Modernity.

A Kierkegaardian option for the poor?

There is a surprisingly rigorous insistence in Kierkegaard’s Practice in Christianity on something like a preferential option for the poor. And it does better than some versions of the preferential option at explaining the dialectic between universality and preference—i.e., at responding to the common objection that, since God loves everyone equally, God can’t possibly love the poor more than the rich. An absolute universality is K.’s starting point, in fact: love doesn’t count as love unless it blows away every natural distinction, unless it completely eliminates every hint of preference. But that absolute universality is offensive enough to the established order that it comes to appear as a preference for the poor.

A subtheme in this book is that human compassion—what passes for compassion among human beings—is intrinsically cruel. It only shows compassion to those who don’t really need it; those who do need it, the truly suffering, the “indescribably wretched,” are cast into the desert and ignored. Because divine compassion is genuinely universal, it shows human compassion for what it is: self-serving partiality. Thus divine compassion inevitably appears as a judgment on the well-off, the ones who claim to be showing compassion, and in favor of the forgotten. Plus, since divine compassion is infinite (whereas human compassion is only ever “to a certain degree”) and drives God to actually become one of the poorest and weakest, the well-off have no interest in joining him. On the contrary, “it is urgent for the world to preserve the appearance of being compassion; this now makes the divine compassion into an untruth—ergo this divine compassion must go” (60).

What appears as partiality (divine compassion) is actually universality; what appears as universality (human compassion) is actually partiality.

That said, this is an extremely peculiar ‘option for the poor’ in that it apparently does nothing for the poor. It’s manifestly not an issue of improving their condition, of relieving their suffering, etc.; if anything, it’s the opposite: joining Jesus, for the poor as for anyone, means more alienation, more suffering, more debasement. Part of K.’s argument in this book is that Christianity can only be believed in spite of its essential, unavoidable offensiveness, and this would seem to be the way that offensiveness looks to the poor—that while changing everything for them (or claiming to), it changes nothing.

Can this be called an option for the poor?

Returning to Pre-Modernity?

A few months ago I posted what I see as the three primary aims for theology: fidelity, intelligibility, and liberation/practical relevance. I have been glancing back at Roberto Goizueta’s appropriation of theological aesthetics in Christ Our Companion and have been struck by where the weight of his argument lies as he theologically engages religious symbols such as Our Lady of Guadalupe in Latino/a popular Catholicism. Goizueta, as someone fundamentally influenced by Latin American liberation theology (and particularly the theology of Jon Sobrino) expectedly argues for the liberating character of Latino/a religion. For example, it is liberating since, as community that is predominantly poor and marginalized (both within the United States and as the ‘other’ on beyond our border), it is here that we encounter Jesus Christ today. The sacramentality of the poor (the presence of God among the crucified people) is key throughout the book and is one of the most basic commonalities Goizueta has with Sobrino and others. As I said, this is not unexpected.  What struck me is the place of “fidelity” within Goizueta’s argument. He argues that Latino/a popular Catholicism is a place in which the “pre-modern” synthesis of cosmos, individual, and God (described by Louis Dupré) still flourishes (70). Therefore, attending to popular Catholicism is seen as a form of ressourcement of this pre-modern synthesis which makes available “aspects of that tradition that have been obscured by modern and postmodern Western culture” (146) and which is also liberating because of its holistic, organic worldview. A central reason for turning to Latino/a popular Catholicism in simply that the common people believe in God, Christ, and the saints. Judged as “naively materialistic, superstitious, and infantile,”  these common people call (Western) modern and postmodern intellectuals to religious conversion by a real engagement with the symbols of their faith (62-63; 96, 100). 

At the end of the book Goizueta switches from his earlier, straightforward designation of “pre-modern” and, drawing upon Enrique Dussel, calls the worldview of Latino/a Catholicism “transmodern”: characterized “by a holistic, organic epistemology rooted in the act of solidarity with the victims of history” (154). The term thus takes the pre-modern world of popular Catholicism which Goizueta sees as a ground of ressourcement and links it to the preferential option for the poor.

A good book on Heidegger

The scholarly reception of Heidegger’s work is enormous.  A quick look at shelves dedicated to him in a research library will reveal dozens upon dozens of monographs concerning: Heidegger and phenomenology, Heidegger and Nazism, Heidegger and aesthetics, Heidegger and Nietzsche, Heidegger and Asian philosophy, Heidegger and God, etc.  The formula “Heidegger and X,” where X is anything under the sun, does not always correspond to the title of a work, but more often than not it does shape its content.  “Heidegger studies” is not only a niche market, it is a market of niches. 

Amid the overwhelming sway of publications, the amount of one’s own being and time which might be devoted to figuring out what is really going on with Heidegger can begin to feel daunting.  And yet, for those interested in thinking through the implications of contemporary philosophy in a non-analytical vein–and this includes theologians who feel a need to situate their reflections on faith within the challenges and opportunities opened up by the critiques of modern metaphysics or modern subjectivity–Heidegger cannot be bypassed.  His influence is just too great.   

As some of my other posts may suggest, I’ve been trying–and trying for awhile–to decide what to think about Heidegger.  Let’s just say my reactions remain ambivalent.   But if I could recommend one piece of secondary literature to read, for those interested in getting a sweeping but nuanced sense of the twists and turns of Heidegger’s thought, I have found none better than Bret W. Davis’ recent Heidegger and the Will: On the Way to Gelassenheit (Evanston, IL: Northwestern UP, 2007). 

One could easily see this book on the shelf and pass it by with an air of exasperation: “Another niche book on Heidegger!”  But, in this case, the particular thematic of the will actually provides a backbone for a deeply researched, thoughtful, and amazingly readable narration of Heidegger’s corpus as a whole.  As it turns out, the question of the will figures centrally in all of Heidegger’s major works.  His various formulations, appropriations, and critiques of the will reveal a great deal about what is at stake in different moments of his thought.  This idea had not occurred to me before, but Davis’ text has convinced me that the question of the will–from its radical promotion in the ominous Rectoral Address to its renunciation in the letting-be of Ereignis–provides an important perspective from which to consider the relevance of Heidegger for today.        

In short, for whatever it’s worth, I think this is a really helpful book.  It may help to keep you afloat on the sea of Heidegger-related scholarship.

Reminder: CFP on Bonhoeffer, deadline approaching

Just a reminder that the CFP for New Conversations on Bonhoeffer’s Theology, which we posted about a while back, will be closing on December 1. I’ve re-posted all the details below. All you have to submit at this point is a one-page abstract.

—–

New Conversations on Bonhoeffer’s Theology
A Graduate Student Conference at the University of Notre Dame
April 10-11, 2011

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-45) remains one of the most prominent and contested modern German theologians. His theology has been at the center of important discussions on pastoral theology, practical ethics, political responsibility, and the role of the Christian in the modern world. Bonhoeffer’s dramatic involvement in the assassination plot against Hitler, and consequent execution, has no doubt contributed to the widespread interest in his work. Today he is among the most widely read theologians in North America and Europe. Recent scholarship on Bonhoeffer’s theology, while attentive to these earlier discussions, has branched out in new directions. First, there has been increased interest in Bonhoeffer’s early and more academic works. Second, a number of recent studies have drawn Bonhoeffer into debates in continental philosophy and other disciplines. Third, there has been a renewed attentiveness to Bonhoeffer’s early twentieth-century theological and historical context. These developments indicate a growing interest in reading Bonhoeffer along systematic, philosophical and historical lines. Fourth, closer attention to Bonhoeffer’s engagement of Catholic interlocutors along these same lines has raised new prospects for Protestant-Catholic dialogue. The purpose of this conference is to draw together and further these developments.

New Conversations will feature papers by graduate students and senior scholars from North America and Europe, including:

Robin Lovin (Southern Methodist University)
Christiane Tietz (Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz)
Bernd Wannenwetsch (Oxford University)

Gerald McKenny, Randall Zachman, Cyril O’Regan, Krista Duttenhaver and other Notre Dame faculty will chair graduate student paper sessions.

We cordially invite graduate students to submit a one page abstract by 1 December 2010 to NDBonhoeffer@gmail.com for a paper 25 minutes in length. Please also indicate full contact details and institutional affiliation. We especially encourage abstracts on Bonhoeffer’s theology in relation to the following:

Continental philosophy
Political theory
Early 20th century theology and history
Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist theology
Catholic theology
Karl Barth
Erich Przywara
Hans Urs von Balthasar
Ethics and moral theology
Narrative theology
Literature
Other topics

Enquiries may be directed to Adam Clark and Mike Mawson at NDBonhoeffer@gmail.com. New Conversations intends to provide accommodations for all student presenters and some travel costs for European students.

This event is sponsored by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and the Notre Dame Theology Department.