Böcker av Merold Westphal

A comparative study of the thought of Levinas and Kierkegaard

Explores the convergences between postmodern philosophies and religious belief and thought

In this book renowned philosopher Merold Westphal unpacks the writings of nineteenth-century thinker S├╕ren Kierkegaard on biblical, Christian faith and its relation to reason. Across five books -- Fear and Trembling, Philosophical Fragments, Concluding Unscientific Postscript, Sickness Unto Death, and Practice in Christianity -- and three pseudonyms, Kierkegaard sought to articulate a biblical concept of faith by approaching it from a variety of perspectives in relation to one another. Westphal offers a careful textual reading of these major discussions to present an overarching analysis of Kierkegaard''s conception of the true meaning of biblical faith. Though Kierkegaard presents a complex picture of faith through his pseudonyms, Westphal argues that his perspective is a faithful and illuminating one, making claims that are important for philosophy of religion, for theology, and most of all for Christian life as it might be lived by faithful people.

Features examples from the writings of Kierkegaard, Freud, Heidegger, Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche, and Tolstoi that illuminates the author's thesis that guilt and death are the central problems of human existence.

Discusses Hegel's phenomenology. This book emphasizes the relevance of Hegel's Phenomenology to contemporary philosophical issues.

"Westphal here brings together his discussions over the last decade of how Christianity can and should engage and appropriate post-modernism...it's easily the best contribution to the discussion that I know of."-Nicholas Wolterstorff, Yale University

This work argues that the appropriate religious response to suspicion of its beliefs is not to try to refute or deflect them, but rather to acknowledge their force in a process of self-examination.

Seeks to rethink divine transcendence in relation to modes of human self-transcendence. Touching upon Spinoza, Hegel, Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, Aquinas, Barth, Kierkegaard, Levinas, Derrida, and Marion, this work centres around a critique of onto-theology, the importance of alterity, the decentered self, and the autonomous transcendental ego.

A renowned philosopher introduces contemporary issues in philosophical hermeneutics related to the church's task of interpreting the Bible.