God and the Liberation of Reason in French Philosophy

In an age where thinking is too often restricted to its scientific exercise, how better to liberate the full powers of our reason than to engage with the possibility of what exceeds them? What better way to measure our progress beyond modernist metaphysics and the contemporary nihilism it generated than to discuss the question of God?

Written by specialists in French philosophy, the essays in this volume use the question of God to identify problematic metaphysical patterns still carved into our thought as well as to reconstruct new paths for philosophy that open beyond these limitations. Discussing the work of Kant, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Héring, Levinas, Derrida, and others, contributions range across topics including the influence of Neo-Platonic philosophy on theology, the errors of modern rationalism, and phenomenology’s interest in religion.

Even when drawing on resources from faith traditions, this French engagement with the question of God defies any simplistic attempt to relegate its efforts to theology; the authors of this volume clearly demonstrate its deeply-embedded relation to the history of thought and its relevance to questions central for the task of philosophy today. With a special attention the work of significant philosophers less known outside of France, this volume promises to deepen the Anglophone reception and understanding of contemporary French philosophy.

Stephanie Rumpza is a Researcher in Philosophy at Sorbonne Université, France. She specializes in 20th century continental philosophy, with a special interest in French phenomenology and religion, and is the author of Phenomenology of the Icon: Mediating God in the Image (2023)
M. E. Littlejohn is a Professor of Philosophy at University of New Brunswick, Canada, and Chercheur Invité at Sorbonne Université, France.