This text re-reads Western history in the light of nihilistic logic, which pervades two millennia of Western thought. From Parmenides to Alain Badiou, via Plotinus, Avicenna, Duns Scotus, Ockham, Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, Sartre, Lacan, Deleuze and Derrida, a genealogy of nothingness can be witnessed in development, with devastating consequences for the way we live.

The relation between life and death is a subject of perennial relevance for all human beings, and indeed, the whole world and the entire universe, in as much as, according to the saying of ancient Greek philosophy, all things that come into being pass away. Yet it is also a topic of increasing complexity, for life and death now appear to be more intertwined than previously or commonly thought. Moreover, the relation between life and death is also one of increasing urgency, as through the twin phenomena of an increase in longevity unprecedented in human history and the rendering of death, dying, and the dead person all but invisible, people living in the industrialized and post-industrialized Western world of today have lost touch with the reality of death. This radically new situation, and predicament, has implications - medical, ethical, economic, philosophical, and, not least, theological - that have barely begun to be addressed. This volume gathers together essays by a distinguished and diverse group of scientists, theologians, philosophers, and health practitioners, originally presented in a symposium sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation.

The SCM Veritas Series brings to market original volumes engaging in critical questions of pressing concern to theologians as well as philosophers, biologists, economists, and representatives of other disciplines. The Grandeur of Reason is the most spectacular Veritas volume to date. It presents a world-class cast of contributors debating the question of universalism. The book includes original contributions by Stanley Hauerwas, John Milbank, Graham Ward, Oliver O'Donovan and Peter Candler and a foreword by Angelo Cardinal Scola. The Grandeur of Reason attempts to think through the re-hellenization of Christian faith. The collection focuses on the importance of Christian 'truth' and the tradition of how faith and reason are bound together in the universal claim of the Gospel. It points toward an authentic understanding of tolerance and ecumenism. The aim of the volume is to establish a path of honest intercultural communication in pursuit of universal truth, guided by the "grandeur" of reason, and unashamedly grounded in the cultural and historical tradition of Christianity. Conor Cunningham is Assistant Director of the Centre for Philosophy and Theology at the University of Nottingham. Peter M. Candler Jr. is Associate Professor of Theology at

The Veritas Series brings to market original volumes all engaging in critical questions of pressing concern to both philosophers, theologians, biologists, economists and more. This volume of essays brings together a star cast of authors discussing the relationship between belief and metaphysics and its significance from both a theological and a philosophical point of view. The series aims to illustrate that without theology, something essential is lost in our account of such categories - not only in an abstract way but in the way in which we inhabit the world. The Veritas Series refuses to accept disciplinary isolation: both for theology and for other disciplines.

In recent philosophical discourse, there has been a proliferation of work in the field of philosophy of religion, and in particular at the intersection between epistemology and philosophy of religion. Much of that interest has centred on the emergence of what has come to be known as 'Reformed Epistemology'. The central claim of Reformed epistemologists is that belief in God is properly basic. The purpose of the arguments offered by Reformed epistemologists is to oppose what Plantinga calls the 'de jure' objection to theistic belief - the idea that it is somehow irrational, a dereliction of epistemic duty, or in some other sense epistemically unacceptable, to believe in God. This objection is distinct from what Plantinga labels the 'de facto' objection - the objection that, whatever the rational status of belief in God, it is, in fact, a false belief. The primary goal of Reformed epistemology, then, is to defend Christian belief against the de jure objection, thereby showing that everything really depends on the truth of Christian belief. This book demonstrates the feasibility of combining the Reformed epistemologist's position with an argument for theism that the author draws from Charles Taylor's work. In it, he shows the value that would be added to the Reformed epistemologist's position by such a combination.

The subtitle of Pound's book could have been 'Lacan with Kierkegaard'. It stages an extraordinary dialogue between the two thinkers, demonstrating the Kierkegaardian resonances of the key Lacanian concepts. From now on, we know that the Freudian notion of 'trauma', its sexual references notwithst anding, belongs to the domain of the divine. The book is a true event: after reading it, neither Kierkegaard nor Lacan will remain the same in our theoretical imaginary. You can ignore this book... if you want to remain a happy idiot." - Slavoj i ek "Marcus Pound's first book is the most important sustained reflection on the relation of Theology and Psychoanalysis to date. His approach is admirably focussed, since it compares the ideas of the theological founder of complex motivational psychology - Soren Kierkegaard - with those of the most sophisticated secular psychoanalytical theorist -Jacques Lacan. In doing so Pound offers, in a short compass, both a psychological deepening of theological orthodoxy and a theological critique of psychoanalysis as such. Future engagement with this area must begin with this lucid, subtle and brilliant treatise." - John Milbank "The vitality of Christian theology today, its creativity, its imaginative and scholarly engagement, are nowhere more evident than in this book. Pound's presentation of an interface between psychology and doctrine is as bold as it is original. Kierkegaard meets Lacan, trauma is related to liturgy and therapy to sacramentalism - all under the aegis of Aquinas This is contemporary theology at its best - exploring new terrains and forging distinctive relations between onetime strangers." - Graham Ward

Transcendence and Phenomenology presents a definitive collection of essays discussing the much debated turn to theology in philosophy, most evident in phenomenology. Arguably the most pressing debate at the interface of philosophy and theology, this collection of essays makes a significant intervention in the on-going argument, gathering together some of the finest phenomenologist s writing today; Jean-Luc Marion, Jean-Yves Lacoste, Jean-Louis Chretien and Michel Henry. It also presents major criticisms of phenomenology in relation to theology, especially from John Milbank. This volume will provide a framework for those new to the debate. Contributors to this volume: JEAN-LUC MARION, MICHEL HENRY, RICHARD KEARNEY, JEFF BLOECHL, RUDI VISKER, JEAN-YVES LACOSTE, LASZLO TENGELYI, JOHN MILBANK, JEAN GREISCH, RUUD WELTEN, MAURO CARBONE. Dr Conor Cunningham is Co Director of the Centre for Theology and Philosophy at the University of Nottingham. Dr Peter Candler is Assistant Professor of Theology at Baylor University in Texas.

This text re-reads Western history in the light of nihilistic logic, which pervades two millennia of Western thought. From Parmenides to Alain Badiou, via Plotinus, Avicenna, Duns Scotus, Ockham, Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, Sartre, Lacan, Deleuze and Derrida, a genealogy of nothingness can be witnessed in development, with devastating consequences for the way we live.

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