In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries secular French scholars started re-engaging with religious ideas, particularly mystical ones. Mysticism in the French Tradition introduces key philosophical undercurrents and trajectories in French thought that underpin and arise from this engagement, as well as considering earlier French contributions to the development of mysticism. Filling a gap in the literature, the book offers critical reflections on French scholarship in terms of its engagement with its mystical and apophatic dimensions. A multiplicity of factors converge to shape these encounters with mystical theology: feminist, devotional and philosophical treatments as well as literary, historical, and artistic approaches. The essays draw these into conversation. Bringing together an international and interdisciplinary range of contributions from both new and established scholars, this book provides access to the melting pot out of which the mystical tradition in France erupted in the twenty-first century, and from which it continues to challenge theology today.

It has been 25 years since Dominique Janicaud derisively proclaimed the "theological turn" in French phenomenology due to the return of God to philosophy through the influence of "religious" thinkers such as Levinas, Ricoeur, and Marion. Since then, the "theological turn" has flowered into a fully-fledged movement on both sides of the Atlantic. But, what will be the shape and direction of the second generation of the "theological turn"? In this important new book, Emmanuel Falque engages with all the major twentieth-century French phenomenologists-something heretofore unavailable in English. He argues that rather than being content to argue for the return of God to philosophy, something fought for and developed by the foregoing generation of the "theological turn," it is necessary to stage a philosophical confrontation, or disputatio, with them and their work in order to ensure the ongoing vitality of the unexpected contemporary relationship between philosophy and theology. Drawing on the legacies of Jaspers and Heidegger, who both staged their own "loving struggles" to arrive at defining philosophical conclusions, Falque confronts, interrogates, and learns from his most influential philosophical forebears to steer the "theological turn" in a new direction. Offering a novel and creative philosophy of the body, Falque argues for a reorientation of philosophy of religion generally and the "theological turn" specifically from a philosophy of revelation from above to a philosophy of the limit from below. to the return of God to philosophy through the influence of "religious" thinkers such as Levinas, Ricoeur, and Marion. Since then, the "theological turn" has flowered into a fully-fledged movement on both sides of the Atlantic. But, what will be the shape and direction of the second generation of the "theological turn"? In this important new book, Emmanuel Falque engages with all the major twentieth-century French phenomenologists-something heretofore unavailable in English. He argues that rather than being content to argue for the return of God to philosophy, something fought for and developed by the foregoing generation of the "theological turn," it is necessary to stage a philosophical confrontation, or disputatio, with them and their work in order to ensure the ongoing vitality of the unexpected contemporary relationship between philosophy and theology. Drawing on the legacies of Jaspers and Heidegger, who both staged their own "loving struggles" to arrive at defining philosophical conclusions, Falque confronts, interrogates, and learns from his most influential philosophical forebearers in order to steer the "theological turn" in a new direction. Offering a novel and creative philosophy of the body, Falque argues for a reorientation of philosophy of religion generally and the "theological turn" specifically from a philosophy of revelation from above to a philosophy of the limit from below.

It has been 25 years since Dominique Janicaud derisively proclaimed the "theological turn" in French phenomenology due to the return of God to philosophy through the influence of "religious" thinkers such as Levinas, Ricoeur, and Marion. Since then, the "theological turn" has flowered into a fully-fledged movement on both sides of the Atlantic. But, what will be the shape and direction of the second generation of the "theological turn"? In this important new book, Emmanuel Falque engages with all the major twentieth-century French phenomenologists-something heretofore unavailable in English. He argues that rather than being content to argue for the return of God to philosophy, something fought for and developed by the foregoing generation of the "theological turn," it is necessary to stage a philosophical confrontation, or disputatio, with them and their work in order to ensure the ongoing vitality of the unexpected contemporary relationship between philosophy and theology. Drawing on the legacies of Jaspers and Heidegger, who both staged their own "loving struggles" to arrive at defining philosophical conclusions, Falque confronts, interrogates, and learns from his most influential philosophical forebears to steer the "theological turn" in a new direction. Offering a novel and creative philosophy of the body, Falque argues for a reorientation of philosophy of religion generally and the "theological turn" specifically from a philosophy of revelation from above to a philosophy of the limit from below.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries secular French scholars started re-engaging with religious ideas, particularly mystical ones. Mysticism in the French Tradition introduces key philosophical undercurrents and trajectories in French thought that underpin and arise from this engagement, as well as considering earlier French contributions to the development of mysticism. Filling a gap in the literature, the book offers critical reflections on French scholarship in terms of its engagement with its mystical and apophatic dimensions. A multiplicity of factors converge to shape these encounters with mystical theology: feminist, devotional and philosophical treatments as well as literary, historical, and artistic approaches. The essays draw these into conversation. Bringing together an international and interdisciplinary range of contributions from both new and established scholars, this book provides access to the melting pot out of which the mystical tradition in France erupted in the twenty-first century, and from which it continues to challenge theology today.

Through a bold and historically rooted vision for the future of philosophy of religion, The Sacrality of the Secular maps new and compelling possibilities for a nonsecularist secularity. In recent decades, philosophers in the continental tradition have taken a notable interest in the return of religion, a departure from the supposed hegemony of the secular age that began with the Enlightenment. At the same time, anthropologists and sociologists have begun to reject the once-dominant secularization thesis, which both prescribed and described the demise of religion in modern societies. In The Sacrality of the Secular, Bradley B. Onishi reconsiders the role of religion at a time when secularity is more tenuous than it might seem. He demonstrates that philosophy's entanglement with religion led, perhaps counterintuitively, to vibrant reconceptions of the secular well before the unraveling of the secularization thesis or the turn to religion. Through rich readings of Heidegger, Bataille, Weber, and others, Onishi rethinks what philosophy can contribute to our understanding of religion and the wider social and cultural world.