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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The further we go, the more we return, December 23, 2007
Some social commentators argue that the West is living in a post-Christian age whose birthing pain was the Enlightenment era. Perhaps. (Or perhaps Christianity is just undergoing a long facelift.) But if author Stephen Mulhall is correct, Christian themes that have shaped western culture for two millennia aren't so easily thrown over. In his provocative Philosophical Myths of the Fall, he argues that at least one family of Christian themes--the Fall, original sin, and redemption--is the subtext for the thought of the three philosophers who may be said to have created the postmodern zeitgeist: Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger. "All three," argues Mulhall, defend "a conception of the human condition...that reiterate[s] elements of a distinctively Christian structure of thought."
Of course, the big three don't know that they're "reiterating" Christian structures of thought. Nietzsche explicitly believes he's trashing Christianity, Wittgenstein seems indifferent, and Heidegger, the most explicitly sympathetic of the three to Christianity, always insisted that his ontology ought not to be interpreted as a theology (sorry, Bultmann). But Mulhall contends that Nietzsche's worry about nihilism and his prophetic call for overcoming, Wittgenstein's heavy reliance on Augustine (one of the few philosophers Wittgenstein actually seems to have read, by the way), as well as his belief that philosophy ought to be a therapy that heals us of our crippling misconceptions about the world, and Heidegger's condemnation of inauthenticity and his claim that an embrace of our contingency can absolve us from it, all smack of a secularized appeal to original sin and redemption.
Mulhall's thesis is likely to rile both Christians and secular philosophers. The former will believe that Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger fall far short of acceptable Christian belief, and the latter might well feel the need to rush to their postmodern heros' defense by indignantly denying Mulhall's conclusions. But the book is a fascinating exercise in the archaeology of postmodern philosophy, uncovering as it does residues of Christian influence in three very unChristian thinkers.
Perhaps we're actually living in a post post-Christian age.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting but dense, book's conclusion implausible, December 8, 2009
This review is from: Philosophical Myths of the Fall (Princeton Monographs in Philosophy) (Paperback)
This book opened up a world of speculation I hadn't entertained before. And a lightweight version of the book's conclusion must be true: that Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein must have been influenced by the Christian culture in which they lived. That much I can agree with. But the author wants to go much farther and show that not only were they influenced by Christians, but that quite literally these philosophers were doing Christian philosophy, just without the word "christian". Don't get me wrong: this book is not the amateurish work of a Christian trying to claim these philosophers as members of his church, no no no. This author is a very intelligent and insightful thinker. So I don't say avoid this book, take a look if these philosophers interest you and you want to see how they might relate to Christianity. I must admit I didn't finish the book, partly because the Heidegger section was completely impossible for me to read, as one might expect from something relating to Heidegger. Overall, very interesting, but the conclusion was not well demonstrated. Maybe someone more familiar with the philosophers in this book would have a better time with it.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Philosophical Myths of the Fall., March 29, 2010
This review is from: Philosophical Myths of the Fall (Princeton Monographs in Philosophy) (Paperback)
_Philosophical Myths of the Fall_ (2005, Princeton) by philosopher Stephen Mulhall is a fascinating series of reflections on the thinking of three important philosophers - Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein - as their thinking relates to a particularly Christian understanding of human nature as fallen. The book considers the biblical tale of the Fall in which the sin of Adam and Eve brought upon them the wrath of God and they were cast out from the garden of Eden. Relating this to the post-Enlightenment world, the author examines the thought of Alasdair McIntyre showing how teleology was rejected by Enlightenment thinkers and examining the problem of then trying to find an alternative justification for moral principles. The author then considers how various philosophies including post-Kantian German philosophy and post-Kantian Anglo-American philosophy relate to the Christian notion of original sin. Following this the author provides a series of relections on the thinking of the three philosophers mentioned above - Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein.
The Madman and the Masters: Nietzsche - the author examines the thinking of Nietzsche and in particular his infamous pronouncement that "God is dead". The author considers Nietzsche's comments on the "marketplace atheists" and the theists, showing Nietzsche's criticisms of both. The author considers the "genealogy of humanity" maintaining that Nietzsche's thought paradoxically embodies another conception of the Fall thus reflecting the influence of Christianity and that Nietzsche comes to be transposed into the Christian tale of Christ.
The Dying Man and the Dazed Animal: Heidegger - considers the role of the thinking of Martin Heidegger as it relates to a re-thinking of the human mode of being ("Dasein"). Notes Heideggers thinking on authenticity as it relates to "the Fall" in which man is "thrown" into the world. Considers Heidegger's thinking on mortality and his reflections on authentic being-towards-death, relating this to the thought of Kierkegaard. Finally, considers the role of humanity as animality in its relationship to the thinking of Heidegger.
The Child and the Scapegoat: Wittgenstein - considers the thought of Wittgenstein particularly as it relates to Augustine. Notes Wittgenstein's thought on language and Augustine's conception of the child versus the adult world. Considers the thinking of Wittgenstein as it relates to the Fall and the Christian influence behind this notion.
This book provides a discerning account of how the influence of the Christian understanding of the Fall continues to play a role in "philosophical myths". The author considers three important post-Enlightenment thinkers and shows the influence that the Christian understanding had on each. The author concludes that the notion that humanity is in need of redemption from a state of "wretchedness" and "perversity" continues to play a role in these important thinkers. The author maintains that this opens up the possibility of taking religious points of view seriously by maintaining that a "wholly secular point of view is not necessary".
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