A genealogy of critique: From parrhesia to prophecy

This article addresses contemporary concerns about critique through an interpretation of the "writing prophets." This approach draws on Foucauldian genealogy and suggests that alongside Greek parrhesia, Old Testament prophecy is a key forerunner of contemporary critical discourses. Our ana...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Critical research on religion
Authors: Boland, Tom ca. 20./21. Jh. (Author) ; Clogher, Paul (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage [2017]
In: Critical research on religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Weber, Max 1864-1920 / Gadamer, Hans-Georg 1900-2002 / Foucault, Michel 1926-1984 / Parrhesia / Prophecy / Critique of religion
RelBib Classification:AA Study of religion
AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
HB Old Testament
Further subjects:B Genealogy
B Critique
B Weavers
B Gadamer
B Foucault
B Prophecy
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:This article addresses contemporary concerns about critique through an interpretation of the "writing prophets." This approach draws on Foucauldian genealogy and suggests that alongside Greek parrhesia, Old Testament prophecy is a key forerunner of contemporary critical discourses. Our analysis draws upon Weber's interpretative historical sociology and Gadamerian hermeneutics but shifts the emphasis from charisma to critique, through a direct engagement with prophetic texts. In particular, prophetic discourse claims to reveal injustice and idolatry and speaks from a position of transcendence within immanent historical moments. Prophets position their own era as a moment of crisis, and themselves as liminal figures, opposed to the delusion of others and "false prophets" which resonates with contemporary conceptions of "ideology." Rather than focusing on historical individuals, we approach prophecy as a discourse, multiple and hybrid, discontinuous, and contradictory, yet constituting a distinctive precursor which informs contemporary critique.
ISSN:2050-3040
Contains:Enthalten in: Critical research on religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/2050303217690896