Experiments in Mystical Atheism - by Brook Ziporyn (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Monotheist religion and secular science are locked in a seemingly zero-sum conflict. In Otherwise than God, Brook Ziporyn proposes an alternative to both these movements. According to Ziporyn, the spiritual maladies of humankind are not due to a lack of God, but because we have a choice between either God or a halfway atheism. What we need, Ziporyn asserts, is a deep and thoroughgoing atheism, or a form of atheistic mysticism: not the humanistic rejection of religion, but the religious rejection of God. Atheistic mysticism may seem counterintuitive, but Otherwise than God is an argument for its existence and importance. Drawing on critiques of monotheist premises found in Spinoza, Nietzsche, Bataille, and various Daoist and Buddhist thinkers, Ziporyn first analyzes the entailments of the monotheist cultural complex. These figures and traditions serve as guides in a quest to overcome the impasse between theomania and meaning-starved secular empiricism. Ziporyn then works through the positive proposals of some of these thinkers in search of alternatives. Otherwise than God excavates what the "offending" premises of monotheism are (for those whom it offends) and reveals what possibilities open up if we suspend those premises"--

Book Synopsis

A new approach to the theism-scientism divide rooted in a deeper form of atheism.

Western philosophy is stuck in an irresolvable conflict between two approaches to the spiritual malaise of our times: either we need more God (the "turn to religion") or less religion (the New Atheism). In this book, Brook Ziporyn proposes an alternative that avoids both totalizing theomania and atomizing reductionism. What we need, he argues, is a deeper, more thoroughgoing, even religious rejection of God: an affirmative atheism without either a creator to provide meaning or finite creatures in need of it--a mystical atheism.

In the legacies of Daoism and Buddhism as well as Spinoza, Nietzsche, and Bataille, Ziporyn discovers a critique of theism that develops into a new, positive sensibility--at once deeply atheist and richly religious. Experiments in Mystical Atheism argues that these "godless epiphanies" hold the key to renewing philosophy today.

Review Quotes

"Experiments in Mystical Atheism is a brilliant and challenging meditation on and critique of monotheism. In it, Ziporyn demonstrates how those of us without the 'God gene' need not suffer a lack of spiritual depth or meaning. This book is an impressive example of how Chinese dialogue with Western thought can contribute to a mature religious worldview."--Joseph A. Adler, Kenyon College

"A rare foundational and beautiful book, Experiments in Mystical Atheism presents an alternative to the master narratives of sovereignty that still dominate contemporary thought. Rather than a crude rehash of 'rational' or moral argument, Ziporyn's deep atheism builds on Daoism, Buddhism, Spinoza, and Nietzsche to unfold the utter contingency and purposelessness of existence."--Hans-Georg Moeller, University of Macau

"In his hair-raising and ambitious case against God, Ziporyn avoids tired atheist arguments. Instead, heart on his sleeve, he seeks to show that God, as a concept, is the antithesis of exuberant meaning, sublime experience, and expansive love. Thoreau once said that true philosophers had been replaced by professors of philosophy; Ziporyn is here to prove him wrong."--Alan Levinovitz, James Madison University

"This provocative manifesto is written for the 'mystically minded but God-intolerant.' In abandoning the idea of a transcendent Person who provides our lives with purpose, Ziporyn articulates an 'atheistic mysticism' that reconciles the finite with the infinite and that promises to be as liberating as it is demanding."--Bret W. Davis, Loyola University Maryland

About the Author

Brook Ziporyn is the Mircea Eliade Professor of Chinese Religion, Philosophy, and Comparative Thought at the University of Chicago. He is the author and translator of many books, most recently Daodejing.