Keeping Sense Open: Jean-Luc Nancy, Karl Rahner, and Bodies

This article introduces the French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy to theologians by placing him in critical dialogue with Karl Rahner. It examines how Nancy's deconstruction of Christianity accuses Western reason, including Christianity, of forgetting the body and supporting an ethos of disembodime...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Horizons
Main Author: Fritz, Peter Joseph 1981- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Cambridge Univ. Press [2016]
In: Horizons
Year: 2016, Volume: 43, Issue: 2, Pages: 257-281
RelBib Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
NAA Systematic theology
NBE Anthropology
Further subjects:B Deconstruction
B Jean-Luc Nancy
B Symbol
B Karl Rahner
B Postmodern theology
B Eucharist
B Body
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Summary:This article introduces the French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy to theologians by placing him in critical dialogue with Karl Rahner. It examines how Nancy's deconstruction of Christianity accuses Western reason, including Christianity, of forgetting the body and supporting an ethos of disembodiment. Nancy proposes a new opening of reason (déclosion, "dis-closure") and a corresponding praxis ("adoration"). This reason and praxis involve an exit from Christianity. Rahnerian essays on matter, spirit, and sacramentality demonstrate that while Christianity has, historically, fallen prey to the pathologies Nancy identifies, it also has thought in terms of something like dis-closed reason and has practiced something like "adoration." While Nancy's insistence on the need for an exit from Christianity is not necessarily well posed, his deconstruction of Christianity can help Christian theologians as they develop thinking that supports an ethos sensitive to the body-or that keeps the body's sense open.
ISSN:2050-8557
Contains:Enthalten in: Horizons
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/hor.2016.62