Jean-Luc Nancy After the Theological Turn: A Phenomenology of Kenosis

A novel and profound reading of Jean-Luc Nancy’s deconstruction of Christianity in the context of French phenomenology’s ’theological turn’, this is an important contribution to continental philosophy of religion.

Deftly exploring Nancy’s work alongside major twentieth-century philosophers of religion including Jean-Luc Marion, Michel Henry, Jean-Louis Chrétien and Emmanuel Falque, Jean-Luc Nancy after the Theological Turn argues that only by turning to theology can phenomenology come into its own as philosophy. Following Derrida’s treatment of Nancy, Nikolaas Cassidy-Deketelaere thinks ’after’ the theological turn by deconstructing phenomenology’s inherent theological structure which made that turn possible: starting from the theological turn phenomenology was structurally inclined to produce, this book seeks to move beyond it (i.e., to ’de-theologise’ phenomenology). This parallels Nancy’s engagement with Christianity: drawing on Paul’s kenosis-according to which God empties himself of his divinity in the Incarnation-he understands Christianity as deconstructing or de-theologising itself.

Written in elegant and clear prose, in elaborating Nancy’s little-discussed writing on Christianity this volume clarifies the philosophical project of one of the most influential contemporary thinkers. Cassidy-Deketelaere persuasively establishes the radical significance of theology for phenomenology and explains the consequences of that relationship for the recent history of contemporary philosophy.

Nikolaas Cassidy-Deketelaere is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at KU Leuven, Belgium, and Visiting Professor at Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, Belgium.