Stanley Cavell, Religion, and Continental Philosophy [Hardcover]

The American philosopher Stanley Cavell (b. 1926) is a secular Jew who by his own admission is obsessed with Christ, yet his outlook on religion in general is ambiguous. Probing the secular and the sacred in Cavells thought, Espen Dahl explains that Cavell, while often parting ways with Christianity, cannot dismiss it either. Focusing on Cavell's work as a whole, but especially on his recent engagement with Continental philosophy, Dahl brings out important themes in Cavells philosophy and his conversation with theology.

In making such a convincing case for claiming that religion is Stanley Cavells pervasive, hence invisible, business, Espen Dahl also puts Cavells writings into sustained and productive dialogue with the work of Levinas and Girard in ways other commentators have not previously managed.It is undoubtedly tricky business writing a book about Stanley Cavell and any book enterprisingenough to bring him into conversation with Christian theology should be additionally commended, especially one as likable as Espen Dahls Stanley Cavell, Religion, and Continental Philosophy.Dahl has a comprehensive grasp on Cavell's thought, is clearly a gifted theologian, and manages to place Cavell in conversation with continental thought as productively as anyone before him. Moreover, he does so in prose that is a model of clarity and brevity.

Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Modernism and Religion
2. The Ordinary Sublime
3. Acknowledging God
4. Skepticism, Finitude, and Sin
5. The Tragic Dimension of the Ordinary
6. The Other and Violence
7. Forgiveness and Passivity
Conclusion: The Last Question: Self-redemption or Divine Redemption?
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Although short, Espen Dahl has written a book that truly delivers on its title: it clearly, concisely, and powerfully shows Cavells frequent and deep links to and engagements with religion and religious themes and with (so-called) lãa