Rethinking God as Gift: Marion, Derrida, and the Limits of Phenomenology

by Robyn Horner

Overview

Rethinking God as Gift is situated at the intersection of philosophy, critical theory and theology. The first sustained study of the work of Jean-Luc Marion in English, it offers a unique perspective on contemporary questions and their theological relevance. Taking its point of departure from the problem of the gift as articulated by Jacques Derrida, who argues that the conditions of possibility of the gift are also its conditions of impossibility, Horner pursues a series of questions concerning the nature of thought, the viability of phenomenology, and, most urgently, the possibility of grace. For Marion, phenomenology, as the thought of the given, offers a path for philosophy to proceed without being implicated in metaphysics. His retrieval of several important insights of Edmund Husserl, along with his reading of Martin Heidegger and Emmanuel Lvinas, enables him to work out a phenomenology where even impossiblephenomena such as revelation and the gift might be examined. In this important confrontation between Marion and Derrida issues vital to the negotiation of postmodern concerns in philosophy and theology emerge with vigour. The careful elucidation of those issues in an interdisciplinary context, and the snapshot it provides of the state of contemporary debate, make Rethinking God as Gift an important contribution to theological and philosophical discussion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823221219
Publisher:	Fordham University Press
Publication date:	07/01/2001
Series:	Perspectives in Continental Philosophy , #19
Edition description:	4
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Robyn Horner is Professor of Religion and Theology at Monash University in Australia.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	vii
	Introduction	ix
1	The Problem of the Gift	1
2	Husserl and Heidegger	19
3	Levinas	45
4	Refiguring Givenness	81
5	Being Given	115
6	The Limits of Phenomenology	153
7	Rethinking the Gift	184
8	Rethinking the Gift II	198
	Epilogue: Naming the Gift, Giving a Name, Rethinking God As Gift	241
	Select Bibliography	249
	Index of Names	265
	Index of Subjects	267

Editorial Reviews

At once rigorous, insightful, and accessible…. the most thorough study yet available on the phenomenological treatment of God as gift in Marion and Derrida. Invaluable reading for those concerned with the theological promise of contemporary Continental philosophy.”——Thomas A. Carlson, Universityof California, Santa Barbara

From the Publisher

At once rigorous, insightful, and accessible…. the most thorough study yet available on the phenomenological treatment of God as gift in Marion and Derrida. Invaluable reading for those concerned with the theological promise of contemporary Continental philosophy.

University of California, Santa Barbara - Thomas A. Carlson

In this contribution to theological and philosophical discussion, Horner (religion and theology, Monash U., Australia) offers an in- depth study of the work of Jean-Luc Marion. Her starting point is the problem of the gift as articulated by Jacques Derrida. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews