A Rhetorics of the Word is the second volume of a three-part
philosophy of Christian life. It approaches Christian life as
expressive of a divine calling or vocation. The word Church (ekklesia)
and the role of naming in baptism indicate the fundamental place of
calling in Christian life. However, ideas of vocation are difficult to
access in a world shaped by the experience of disenchantment. The
difficulties of articulating vocation are explored with reference to
Weber, Heidegger, and Kierkegaard. These are further connected to a
general crisis of language, manifesting in the degradation of
political discourse (Arendt) and the impact of new communications
technology on human discourse. This impact can be seen as reinforcing
an occlusion of language in favour of rationality already evidenced in
the philosophical tradition and technocratic management. New
possibilities for thinking vocation are pursued through the biblical
prophets (with emphasis on Buber's and Rosenzweig's reinterpretation
of the call of Moses), Saint John, and Russian philosophies of
language (Florensky to Bakhtin). Vocation emerges as bound up with the
possibility of being name-bearers, enabling a mutuality of call and
response. This is then evidenced further in ethics and poetics, where
Levinas and Hermann Broch (The Death of Virgil) become major points of
reference. In conclusion, the themes of calling and the name are seen
to shape the possibility of love-the subject of the final part of the
philosophy of Christian life: A Metaphysics of Love.
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A Philosophy of Christian Life, Part II
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780192543011
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Vendor
OUP Oxford
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter