Description
Book SynopsisThe American philosopher Stanley Cavell (b 1926) is a secular Jew by his own admission fascinated with Christ, yet his outlook on religion in general is ambiguous. Probing the secular and religious in Cavell's thought, this book explains that Cavell, while often parting ways with Christianity, continues to return to Christianity.
Trade ReviewIt is undoubtedly tricky business writing a book about Stanley Cavell and any book enterprising enough to bring him into conversation with Christian theology should be additionally commended, especially one as likable as Espen Dahl's Stanley Cavell, Religion, and Continental Philosophy.
* Modern Theology *
Dahl has a comprehensive grasp on Cavell's thought, is clearly a gifted theologian, and manages to place Cavell in conversation with continental thought as productively as anyone before him. Moreover, he does so in prose that is a model of clarity and brevity.
* Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *
Although short, Espen Dahl has written a book that truly delivers on its title: it clearly, concisely, and powerfully shows Cavell's frequent and deep links to and engagements with religion and religious themes and with (so-called) Continental philosophy. While both of these strands have been explored piecemeal by scholars, Dahl's innovation consists in the detail with which he can engage these themes and the position he is able to carve out. . . . Dahl has also written a highly accessible book on Cavell, and yet one which in no way 'waters down' or dilutes Cavell's thinking. There ought to be more books of this kind on Cavell.
* Intl Journal for the Philosophy of Religion *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Modernism and Religion
2. The Ordinary Sublime
3. Acknowledging God
4. Skepticism, Finitude, and Sin
5. The Tragic Dimension of the Ordinary
6. The Other and Violence
7. Forgiveness and Passivity
Conclusion: The Last Question: Self-redemption or Divine Redemption?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
