Product Description: There has been much philosophical speculation on the potential failure of language as well as the search for a presentation of the "thing itself" beyond representation. Words Fail pursues the writings of a trio of philosophers--Jacques Derrida, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, and Giorgio Agamben--as prime examples of how modern poetry presents us with a profitable vantage point from which to survey the ongoing struggle of living in a highly fragmented world...read more

Dickinson traces the development of two concepts, the messianic and the canonical, as they circulate, interweave and contest each other in the work of three prominent continental philosophers: Walter Benjamin, Jacques Derrida and Giorgio Agamben, though a strong supporting cast of Jan Assmann, Gershom Scholem, Jacob Taubes and Paul Ricoeur, among others, also play their respective roles throughout this study. He isolates how their various interactions with their chosen terms reflects a good deal of what is said within the various discourses that constitute what we have conveniently labelled, often in mistakenly monolithic terms, as 'Theology'.By narrowing the scope of this study to the dynamics generated historically by these contrasting terms, he also seeks to determine what exactly lies at the heart of theology's seemingly most treasured object: the presentation beyond any representation, the supposed true nucleus of all revelation and what lies behind any search for a 'theology of immanence' today.

Product Description: From the mid to the late 20th century various French thinkers have at times toyed with the label of ‘the saint', applying it to friends, colleagues, the revered and even the worshipped such as Genet, Sartre, Camus or Foucault. Despite this profaning of the term, however, there are many subtle truths which emerge from its usage among such writers...read more

Product Description: This collection of essays by some of the world's leading theological voices aims at unfolding and reflecting upon the complex relationship between theology and history, with a special focus on the development of tradition. The articles gathered here make it clear that the role of historical consciousness within theology and the contribution of historical studies to the theological disciplines, are of paramount importance, and fundamentally alter the shape of the theological enterprise...read more

Product Description: This book provides a view of the work of philosopher Giorgio Agamben in relation to his own most basic theological premises and the discipline of theology.