God and the Liberation of Reason in French Philosophy

God and the Liberation of Reason in French Philosophy cover

God and the Liberation of Reason in French Philosophy

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Description

In an age where thinking is too often restricted to its scientific exercise, how better to liberate the full powers of our reason than to engage with the possibility of what exceeds them? What better way to measure our progress beyond modernist metaphysics and the contemporary nihilism it generated than to discuss the question of God?

Written by specialists in French philosophy, the essays in this volume use the question of God to identify problematic metaphysical patterns still carved into our thought as well as to reconstruct new paths for philosophy that open beyond these limitations. Discussing the work of Kant, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Héring, Levinas, Derrida, and others, contributions range across topics including the influence of Neo-Platonic philosophy on theology, the errors of modern rationalism, and phenomenology's interest in religion.

Even when drawing on resources from faith traditions, this French engagement with the question of God defies any simplistic attempt to relegate its efforts to theology; the authors of this volume clearly demonstrate its deeply-embedded relation to the history of thought and its relevance to questions central for the task of philosophy today. With a special attention the work of significant philosophers less known outside of France, this volume promises to deepen the Anglophone reception and understanding of contemporary French philosophy.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction: God and the Unbinding of Reason, Stephanie Rumpza (Sorbonne Université, France) and M.E. Littlejohn (University of New Brunswick, Canada and Sorbonne Université, France)
Part I: Before the Theological Turn
1. Forgetting History: Behind the Philosophy-Theology Polemic in France, Stephanie Rumpza (Sorbonne Université, France)
2. Metaphysics and its Double: A Proposal for a Counter-History of Ontology, Dan Arbib (Sorbonne Université, France)
3. The Problem of Reason and the Question of the Divine: Levinas Reads Kant, Inga Römer (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany)
Part II: The Tribunal of Reason
4. The Situation of Faith in Western Societies, Camille Riquier (Institut Catholique de Paris, France)
5. Apologetics Then and Now: On the Program of the Apologeticum, Vincent Carraud (Sorbonne Université, France)
6. God without Evil: The Idolatry of Theodicy, Olivier Boulnois (École pratique des Hautes Études, France)
7. From One-Alone to One-Alone: Plotinus and the Trinity through the Spirit, according to Basil of Caesarea and Gregory Nazianzen, Anca Vasiliu (CNRS, France)
Part III: Phenomenological Expansions
8. Approaching God in Early Phenomenology: The Early “Theological Turn” of Jean Héring, Claudia Serban (Toulouse Jean Jaurès University, France)
9. On Superposition: Notes on the Relationship between Phenomenology and Religion, Stefano Bancalari (Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy)
10. Phenomenology and Revelation: Parable and Paradox, Jean-Luc Marion (Académie Française, France)
Part IV: Paths of Truth
11. Truth After Heidegger and Derrida. Joseph S. O'Leary (Sophia University, Japan)
12. On Contemplation and Truth, Kevin Hart (Duke University, USA)
13. Saying Things Differently, Jean-Yves Lacoste (Cambridge University, UK)
Index

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 16 Oct 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 288
ISBN 9781350438354
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions 234 x 156 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Stephanie Rumpza

Stephanie Rumpza is a Researcher in Philosophy at…

Anthology Editor

M. E. Littlejohn

M. E. Littlejohn is Professor of Philosophy at the…

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