The Political Theology of Kierkegaard - (New Perspectives in Ontology) by Saitya Brata Das (Paperback)

About the Book

Saitya Brata Das argues that in Kierkegaard's work we find a radical eschatological critique, not only of the liberal-humanist pathos of modernity but also the political theology of Carl Schmitt, that seeks to legitimise the sovereign power of the state by an appeal to a divine or theological foundation.

Book Synopsis

Saitya Brata Das argues that in Kierkegaard's work we find a radical eschatological critique, not only of the liberal-humanist pathos of modernity but also the political theology of Carl Schmitt, that seeks to legitimise the sovereign power of the state by an appeal to a divine or theological foundation. Relating Kierkegaard's notion of 'Christianity without Christendom' to the Schellingian eschatological critique of sovereignty, he shows how Schelling's insistence on the eschatological difference between religion and politics is transformed and further intensified in Kierkegaard's critique of historical reason. Such an exception without sovereignty, Das argues, is the very task of our contemporary time.

From the Back Cover

Reconstructs a negative political eschatology through a thinking of exception without sovereignty Saitya Brata Das argues that in Kierkegaard's work we find a radical eschatological critique of the liberal-humanist pathos of modernity that seeks to legitimise the sovereign power of the state by an appeal to a divine or theological foundation. Relating Kierkegaard's notion of 'Christianity without Christendom' to the Schellingian eschatological critique of sovereignty, he shows how Schelling's insistence on the eschatological difference between religion and politics is transformed and further intensified in Kierkegaard's critique of historical Reason. Das argues that such an exception without sovereignty is the crucial task of our age. Saitya Brata Das teaches literature and philosophy at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is the author of The Political Theology of Schelling (Edinburgh University Press, 2016).

Review Quotes

Aa a sequel to Saitya Brata Das's work on the Political Theology of Schelling, his current work on Kierkegaard, is an attempt to bring to contemporary discussions an open-ended and negative approach to religion and politics. The sovereign power of the political and the theological is called into question eschatologically in and through the work of the existential philosopher Kierkegaard.-- "Franson Manjali, Jawaharlal Nehru University"

About the Author

Saitya Brata Das teaches philosophy and literature at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. He is a former Post-Doctorate Fellow at UFR Philosophie, Université de Marc Bloch at Strasbourg (France).