Philosophy and Theology

This is a short book of about 80 pages, divided into eight chapters. The aim of the author, John Caputo, is to propose a vision of how (Western) philosophical theology might look in our postmodern era. The first six chapters go by quickly and enjoyably, mainly because Caputo is a masterful writer, about as good as any I've run across so far. He speaks with conversational directness and clarity while also maintaining philosophical rigor and precision. The key ideas I gleaned from these six chapters are as follows: (1) Philosophy and theology are kindred quests because they're both concerned with the big questions, even if they (purportedly) come from different angles. (2) In the premodern era, (religious) faith dominated reason, but there was still meaningful interaction between the two. (3) During the modern era, reason became dominant and faith went into defensive retreat. Science likewise gradually managed to marginalize both philosophy and religion. Descartes delimited God to what can be understood through reason. Kant likewise limited our understanding to a rational natural and moral order, dismissing any other ideas about God as superstition. Hegel added a historical dimension, but still centered his model on reason. (4) The Romantics reacted to Enlightenment rationalism and scientism by attacking its austere incompleteness. Kierkegaard asserted that rationalism can never catch up with faith. (5) Postmodernism challenged the hegemony of reason and science by noting that all reasoning and even perception involves using a perspective (language game, paradigm, etc.), and that requires tacitly accepting all the presuppositions built into the perspective. As a result, infallible "Truth" is unattainable and faith is unavoidable. This situation evokes incredulity towards meta-narratives and steers us to instead accept and appreciate details, differences, history, multiplicity, complexity, etc. (6) In the postmodern era, each religion involves a perspective which is irreducible to any other perspective, and so it must largely be understood on its own terms, rather than according to the dictates of rationalism or science. All of this seems reasonable to me and, again, Caputo lays all of this out in beautiful prose. This prelude thus sets the stage nicely for what I hoped would be an innovative and compelling postmodern integration of philosophy and theology in the final two chapters, using Derrida and Augustine as representatives of each camp. To present his vision, Caputo's tone shifts in these last two chapters, becoming more poetic and thus appealing largely to our aesthetic judgment rather than our critical faculties. The chapters are short, so Caputo offers only a preliminary sketch rather than a detailed portrait. Let me try to present a miniature version of his sketch, effectively a sketch of a sketch: ______ Augustine and Derrida are both involved in a restless search from which they can't escape, and perhaps they don'

This is, as the title of my review (not so) cleverly indicates, a nice little book. Caputo is a master of saying a lot in just a few words, and his writing style is engaging and pleasurable to read. In short--and the book itself is very short--Caputo traces the long and sometimes tortured relationship philosophy and theology have had with one another, and, at each stage, Caputo shows how the two can work together and sometimes damage each other. His review of Descartes was particularly enlightening for me, and he has an interesting discussion of Derrida's "Circumfessions" near the end of the book that, for this reader, was incredibly moving. One could go on and on about particular points, but I am a grad student and have to save my time for writing thoughtful and detailed reviews and such that will never been viewed by anyone but my angry professors. But, to summarize: This is a cheap, short book, you can read it in one-two sittings, and anyone interested in both theology and philosophy (especially lay people or beginners to either discipline) will find much valuable information here. I would save 5-star ratings for absolute classics, however, and this book is fairly new, so 4 stars is, for me, a high compliment.

Caputo takes the reader on a brief historical journey of the relationship between philosophy and theology. The reader moves from the pre-modern, to the modern, and then to the post modern interaction between these two disciplines. The conversation certainly is not over at the end of the book. The postmodern relationship between philosophy and theology is in the early stages of being mined for all that is has to offer. This book is a welcome encouragement for those who are not afraid of what that may bring for people of faith and for those outside of the church.

Imagine a book in which Augustine of Hippo and Jaques Derrida are co-cupids, each aiming their arrows at your heart. Only in the hands of Jack Caputo would this be imaginable. This is a lyrical, incredible, impossible gem of a book. Caputo sings, preaches, waxes philosophic and theologic, and ultimately brings us to in the presence of two giants -- Augustine and Derrida -- each at prayer; what surprises us is that they're praying together. And, if we read carefully, we'll see that this little book is, in fact, Caputo's own prayer. I will read this volume many times.