A Philosophical Anthropology of the Cross: The Cruciform Self

by Brian Gregor

Overview

What does the cross, both as a historical event and a symbol of religious discourse, tell us about human beings? In this provocative book, Brian Gregor draws together a hermeneutics of the self—through Heidegger, Gadamer, Ricoeur, and Taylor—and a theology of the cross—through Luther, Kierkegaard, Bonhoeffer, and Jüngel—to envision a phenomenology of the cruciform self. The result is a bold and original view of what philosophical anthropology could look like if it took the scandal of the cross seriously instead of reducing it into general philosophical concepts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253006721
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	03/18/2013
Series:	Philosophy of Religion
Pages:	278
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Brian Gregor is a postdoctoral teaching fellow in the Department of Philosophy at Fordham University. He is editor (with Jens Zimmerman) of Bonhoeffer and Continental Thought: Cruciform Philosophy (IUP, 2009) and Being Human, Becoming Human: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Social Thought.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
1. Philosophy, the Cross, and Human Being
Part 1
2. The Hermeneutics of the Self
3. Faith, Substance, and the Cross
4. The Incurved Self
5. The Anthropological Question
Part 2
6. The Concreteness and Continuity of Faith
7. The Capable Human Being as a Penultimate Good
8. The Call to Responsibility
9. Reflexivity, Intentionality, and Self-understanding
10. Religion within the Limits of the Penultimate?
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Boston College - Jeffrey Bloechl

The power of Bonhoeffer's witness has caused many to overlook the great depth of his reflection. This fine work not only plumbs that depth, but also finds conclusions that may cause us to reconsider our approach to many contemporary questions and concerns.

Universityof Virginia - Kevin Hart

Makes a sustained contribution to the very important debate over the proper space between philosophy and theology. Original, well researched, beautifully written, and provocative.

University of Virginia - Kevin Hart

"Makes a sustained contribution to the very important debate over the proper space between philosophy and theology. Original, well researched, beautifully written, and provocative."

Editorial Reviews

"Makes a sustained contribution to the very important debate over the proper space between philosophy and theology. Original, well researched, beautifully written, and provocative."—Kevin Hart, University of Virginia

"The power of Bonhoeffer's witness has caused many to overlook the great depth of his reflection. This fine work not only plumbs that depth, but also finds conclusions that may cause us to reconsider our approach to many contemporary questions and concerns."—Jeffrey Bloechl, Boston College

"In the end, A Philosophical Anthropology of the Cross represents one of the first major Lutheran engagements with continental philosophy, and an excellent one at that. While the book is certainly not accessible to the layperson, it is accessible to pastors and teachers, and gives a helpful overview of the connections between major figures in continental philosophy and the trajectory of Bonhoeffer's philosophical and theological project. Most importantly, it is a valuable contribution at an important time that begins a conversation of depth about both philosophy that is engaged with the scandal of the cross as well as a robust Lutheran vocabulary of sanctification."—Dialog

"Gregor's work is impressive along two important lines. One the one hand, he offers the uniformed or porrly informed philospher a clear and often quite detailed presentation of Bonhoeffer's systematic thought, with attention to its conscious relation not only to Lutheran theology but also to modern philosophy. On the other hand, he also threads that presentation into the contemporary philosophical context by marking important points of contact with work by such convivial thinkers as Ricoeur, Marcel, and Charles Taylor, but also Nietzsche and Heidegger, with whom discussion would be considerably more antagonistic.Sept. 2014"—International Philosophical Quarterly

"Gregor has been true to his undertaking to investigate the implications of Paul's insight into the tension between philosophy and Christian faith."—Heythrop Journal

From the Publisher

Gregor's work is impressive along two important lines. One the one hand, he offers the uniformed or porrly informed philospher a clear and often quite detailed presentation of Bonhoeffer's systematic thought, with attention to its conscious relation not only to Lutheran theology but also to modern philosophy. On the other hand, he also threads that presentation into the contemporary philosophical context by marking important points of contact with work by such convivial thinkers as Ricoeur, Marcel, and Charles Taylor, but also Nietzsche and Heidegger, with whom discussion would be considerably more antagonistic.Sept. 2014

International Philosophical Quarterly

Gregor has been true to his undertaking to investigate the implications of Paul's insight into the tension between philosophy and Christian faith.

Heythrop Journal

"The power of Bonhoeffer's witness has caused many to overlook the great depth of his reflection. This fine work not only plumbs that depth, but also finds conclusions that may cause us to reconsider our approach to many contemporary questions and concerns.

" —Jeffrey Bloechl, Boston College

Jeffrey Bloechl

"Makes a sustained contribution to the very important debate over the proper space between philosophy and theology. Original, well researched, beautifully written, and provocative." —Kevin Hart, University of Virginia

Kevin Hart

In the end, A Philosophical Anthropology of the Cross represents one of the first major Lutheran engagements with continental philosophy, and an excellent one at that. While the book is certainly not accessible to the layperson, it is accessible to pastors and teachers, and gives a helpful overview of the connections between major figures in continental philosophy and the trajectory of Bonhoeffer's philosophical and theological project. Most importantly, it is a valuable contribution at an important time that begins a conversation of depth about both philosophy that is engaged with the scandal of the cross as well as a robust Lutheran vocabulary of sanctification.

Dialog