The Future of Religion / Edition 1

by Richard Rorty, Gianni Vattimo, Santiago Zabala, William McCuaig

Overview

Though coming from different and distinct intellectual traditions, Richard Rorty and Gianni Vattimo are united in their criticism of the metaphysical tradition. The challenges they put forward extend beyond philosophy and entail a reconsideration of the foundations of belief in God and the religious life. They urge that the rejection of metaphysical truth does not necessitate the death of religion; instead it opens new ways of imagining what it is to be religious—ways that emphasize charity, solidarity, and irony. This unique collaboration, which includes a dialogue between the two philosophers, is notable not only for its fusion of pragmatism (Rorty) and hermeneutics (Vattimo) but also for its recognition of the limits of both traditional religious belief and modern secularism.

In "Anticlericalism and Atheism" Rorty discusses Vattimo's work Belief and argues that the end of metaphysics paves the way for an anti-essentialist religion. Rorty's conception of religion, determined by private motives, is designed to produce the gospel's promise that henceforth God will not consider humanity as a servant but as a friend. In "The Age of Interpretation," Vattimo, who is both a devout Catholic and a frequent critic of the church, explores the surprising congruence between Christianity and hermeneutics in light of the dissolution of metaphysical truth. As in hermeneutics, interpretation is central to Christianity, which introduced the world to the principle of interiority, dissolving the experience of objective reality into "listening to and interpreting messages."

The lively dialogue that concludes this volume, moderated and edited by Santiago Zabala, analyzes the future of religion together with the political, social, and historical aspects that characterize our contemporary postmodern, postmetaphysical, and post-Christian world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231134958
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	05/25/2007
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Richard Rorty (1931-2007) was professor of comparative literature and philosophy at Stanford University. His Columbia University Press books are An Ethics for Today: Finding Common Ground Between Philosophy and Religion and What's the Use of Truth?Gianni Vattimo is emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Turin and a member of the European Parliament. His books with Columbia University Press are Christianity, Truth, and Weakening Faith: A Dialogue (with René Girard), Not Being God: A Collaborative Autobiography, Art's Claim to Truth, After the Death of God, Dialogue with Nietzsche, Nihilism and Emancipation: Ethics, Politics, and the Law, and After Christianity.Santiago Zabala is ICREA Research Professor at the University of Barcelona. He is the author of The Remains of Being: Hermeneutic Ontology After Metaphysics and The Hermeneutic Nature of Analytic Philosophy: A Study of Ernst Tugendhat; editor of Art's Claim to Truth, Weakening Philosophy, and Nihilism and Emancipation; and coeditor (with Jeff Malpas) of Consequences of Hermeneutics.

Table of Contents

Introduction. A Religion Without Theists or Atheists
Santiago Zabala
1. Anticlericalism and Atheism
Richard Rorty
2. The Age of Interpretation
Gianni Vattimo
Dialogue. What Is Religionís Future After Metaphysics?—Richard Rorty, Gianni Vattimo, and Santiago Zabala

What People are Saying About This

Jack Miles

Readers who think of themselves as thoughtful but find philosophy oddly boring, readers who regard religion as an unavoidable topic but find theology vaguely disappointing-these are the readers (and I count myself among them) who will be quickly caught up by Rorty, Vattimo, and Zabala on The Future of Religion. This is the kind of book one reads thinking 'Finally!'

— Jack Miles, author of God: A Biography

Nancy Frankenberry

What comes after the 'end of metaphysics'? Can religion survive without foundations, objective truth, or God? Two of the world's leading philosophers-Gianni Vattimo and Richard Rorty-converge on an answer here. Together, Vattimo's hermeneutics and Rorty's pragmatism reframe our vision of the Christian message that love is the only law. Concise and cutting-edge, this book makes for exciting reading. Santiago Zabala has done a real service in forging a dialogue and making these reflections available.

— Nancy Frankenberry, Dartmouth College

Jeffrey M. Perl

Who could have foreseen postmodern thought taking this turn? Nihilism is 'the actual meaning of Christianity.' Hermeneutics teaches "love is the only law." A book in which Rorty and Vattimo make such avowals together is by definition an important affair.

— Jeffrey M. Perl, editor, Common Knowledge

Editorial Reviews

We're lucky then, to have The Future of Religion...unlike so many voices we've heard in the last week, Rorty and Vattimo think big about Catholicism.

Philadelphia Inquirer - Carlin Romano

Intellectually stimulating.

— James J. DiCenso

Journal of the American Academy of Religion

This brief book opens a vista onto the thought of two... helpful thinkers.

— Jeffrey Dudiak

Philosophy in Review

The Future of Religion is the perfect primer in post-metaphysical historicism.

— Paul J. Griffiths

First Things

We're lucky then, to have The Future of Religion...unlike so many voices we've heard in the last week, Rorty and Vattimo think big about Catholicism.

— Carlin Romano

Philadelphia Inquirer

This brief book opens a vista onto the thought of two... helpful thinkers.

Philosophy in Review - Jeffrey Dudiak

The Future of Religion is the perfect primer in post-metaphysical historicism.

First Things - Paul J. Griffiths

Intellectually stimulating.

Journal of the American Academy of Religion - James J. DiCenso