Rethinking Faith: Heidegger between Nietzsche and Wittgenstein

Description

Heidegger has often been considered as the proponent of the end of metaphysics in the post-Hegelian philosophy, due to his persistent attempts to overcome the onto-theological framework of traditional metaphysics. Yet, this dismissal of metaphysical, theological, and religious motives is deeply ambiguous since new forms of metaphysical and religious experience re-emerge in his philosophical works. Heidegger shares this ambiguous relation to the notions of faith and religion with authors such as Nietzsche and Wittgenstein whose works are also marked by a critique of metaphysics and by a characteristic rethinking of the role of faith and religion. In fact, all three still remain, among other things, reference points for contemporary philosophical debates relating to the phenomenon of religion and faith. Rethinking Faith explores how the phenomena of religion and faith are present in the works of Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein, and how these phenomena are brought into play in their discussion of the classical metaphysical motives they criticize.

Antonio Cimino is a postdoctoral researcher at Radboud University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. His books include Ontologia, storia, temporalita: Heidegger, Platone e l'essenza della filosofia (2005) and Phanomenologie und Vollzug: Heideggers performative Philosophie des faktischen Lebens (2013). Gert-Jan van der Heiden is Professor of Metaphysics at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. His books include The Truth (and Untruth) of Language (2010), De stem van de doden (2012) and Ontology after Ontotheology (2014).

Rethinking Faith is an excellent collection of essays. It examines persuasively the complex nature of Heidegger's view of faith and religion. It also situates his thought in its wider context and shows its implications for contemporary philosophy of religion. It is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in Heidegger and the phenomenon of religious faith. * Holger Zaborowski, Professor of History of Philosophy and Philosophical Ethics, Catholic University of Vallendar, Germany * It has taken us some time to concentrate on the fact that Nietzsche, Heidegger and Wittgenstein do not simply banish religious faith from philosophy, but broaden the definition of faith until the specifically religious affirmation appears as only one instance of it. Perhaps it is not yet clear what this step will have meant either for philosophy or for religion, but there is no longer any question of walking it back. The essays collected here are at once excellent studies of some of the crucial texts and authors, and helpful guides to reflection on the questions that they raise. Students and scholars of philosophy, theology and religious studies will read them with interest and gratitude. * Jeffrey Bloechl, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Boston College, USA, and Honorary Professor of Philosophy, Australian Catholic University * A fruit of an international research project of extraordinary scope and interdisciplinary significance, this collective philosophical intervention into the shifting function and actuality of faith is a compelling achievement. The book demands of us of no less than a radical reorientation of our philosophical and religious archives, even as it compels us to face profound contemporary questions about the nature of contingency and the substance of our political solidarities. In Rethinking Faith we have a philosophical tour de force which floods new light onto those traumas of faith or trust which we cannot escape. * Ward Blanton, Reader in Biblical Cultures and European Thought, University of Kent, UK *