God and the Between (Illuminations: Theory & Religion) [Paperback]

William Desmond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2008 | ISBN-10: 1405162333 | ISBN-13: 978-1405162333 | Edition: 1

An original work which rethinks the question of God in a constructive spirit, drawing its conclusions by considering ideas received from both philosophy and religion.

• Makes an important new contribution to the ongoing scholarly debates surrounding the intersection of philosophy and religion
  
• Suggests that this junction is not just dictated by religion having to prove its credentials to rational philosophy, but that it is also a matter of philosophy wondering if religion is the ultimate partner in dialogue
  
• Includes discussion of a wide range of significant thinkers, both traditional and contemporary, such as Plotinus, Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, and Nietzsche and his successors
  
• Completes a trilogy of works by William Desmond, complementing its companion volumes, Being and the Between and Ethics and the Between.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is a very difficult book on very important, indeed pressing, topics in the philosophy of religion” (Review of Metaphysics) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover

God and the Between explores the space between religion and philosophy, as the religious person cannot escape philosophical perplexity and the philosopher of religion by nature occupies this middle space. Author William Desmond suggests that this junction is not just dictated by religion having to prove its credentials to rational philosophy but that it is also a matter of philosophy wondering whether religion is the ultimate partner in dialogue.

Although the volume includes discussion of a wide range of significant thinkers, both traditional and contemporary, it is primarily an original effort to rethink the question of God in a constructive spirit. In doing so, God and the Between remains true to the porosity that exists between religion and philosophy, and draws its conclusions by considering ideas received from both sides.

This book is an important new contribution to the ongoing scholarly debates surrounding the intersection of philosophy and religion. It completes a trilogy of works by William Desmond, complementing its companion volumes, Being and the Between and Ethics and the Between.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (January 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405162333
• ISBN-13: 978-1405162333
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 0.8 x 9.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,751,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GOD AND THE BETWEEN, July 15, 2011

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DrTheologue - See all my reviews

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This review is from: God and the Between (Illuminations: Theory & Religion) (Paperback)

I had heard a lot about the metaxological metaphysics of William Desmond prior to purchasing this work. As a theologian, I was intrigued with the obvious implications of Desmond's philosophy. One would definitely benefit from a familiarity with Hegelian dialectic, as well as Desmond's previous works in this trilogy (Being & the Between, and Ethics & the Between). The present work will, however, stand on its own. The prose is dense, and to the uninitiated will often seem inpenetrable. However, the concepts are fascinating and intriguing, and will serve as impetus to more explicitly theological research. With diligence, one can master Desmond's terminology, but this will take repeated, close reading. For those with the requisite skills, background, and patience, this book will prove a fascinating journey into the arena of philosophical theology.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic, March 24, 2009

By 

Ian MacIntyre (CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God and the Between (Illuminations: Theory & Religion) (Hardcover)

A great work on the cutting edge of dialogue between religion and philosophy. Especially pertinent examination of the role of agapeics in philosophy's realization of its metaphysical debts to religion. Hardly a just review, the book speaks for itself.

p.s. The original introductory poems for each section as well as the keen use of rhetoric throughout make for an enjoying read of some difficult conceptual terrain.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God and the Between a daring step, November 30, 2009

By 

Jude Theddeus Gancis - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God and the Between (Illuminations: Theory & Religion) (Hardcover)

It is a great work, added by William Desmond to his trilogy of thinking from and in the between. It launches an invitation to philosophers, theologians, religious and to anyone who is truly porous to discover the divine to come and "hear, as it were, God's own metaxology." Through this work Desmond intones the `arrival' of the "time when one must break silence, and break a silence that has been philosophically chosen or enforced in recent centuries." It undertakes to re-think God-question philosophically/religiously contra any post-modern/post-structuralist or any deconstructive reductionist tendencies of the current era that resolves to be determinately indifferent or silent about God