Deconstructing Undecidability: Derrida, Justice, and Religious Discourse [Hardcover]

Advancing current readings of the deconstructive work of Jacques Derrida, Deconstructing Undecidability critically explores the problematic nature of decision, including the inherent exclusivity that accompanies any decision. In discourses where a pursuit of justice or liberation from systemic oppression is a primary concern, Michael Oliver argues for an appreciation of the inescapability of making limited, difficult decisions for particular forms of justice. Oliver highlights a similarly precarious predicament in the context of philosophical and religious negotiations of divine decision, pointing to the impossibility of safely navigating this issue. While wholeheartedly affirming the problem of exclusivity that inevitably accompanies decision, this book offers a renewed sense of undecidability that highlights a mistaken, illusory position of indecision as a reflection of power and privilege. Ultimately, this book aims to gain a greater appreciation for the complexity of the problem of decision, in order to be more rigorous and transparent in our continued engagement with it.Michael Oliver is a departmental lecturer in the faculty of theology and religion at the University of Oxford.

The tension in choosing one line of justice at the expense of another cannot be resolved. Indecision remains an illusion; we must decide. However, not without considering the larger context and its measure of power and privilege. This well-written and engaging study encourages the reader to face the challenge of deciding amidst competing calls for immediate and just attention. Werner G. Jeanrond, University of Oslo

This book offers a welcome contribution to the literature on Derrida and religion. Where some interpreters associate deconstruction with an indeterminate openness, Michael Oliver shows that Derrida sees the act of decision as problematic but unavoidable. Drawing on Derrida, Oliver argues that theological debates over liberation and divine election must reckon witlS,