Postmetaphisical Philosophy

A recent proposal for a post-metaphysical re-imagination of God has come from Irish philosopher Richard Kearney in his widely acclaimed monograph, The God who may be: A hermeneutics of religion (2001). Writing as a philosopher, and approaching his subject matter mainly by means of phenomenology and hermeneutic returns to biblical texts, Kearney invites theologians to contribute to the discussion from a specifically theological point of view. It is the intention of this thesis to accept Kearney’s invitation and address both the challenges and opportunities posed to Christian theology by such a post-metaphysical re-reading of God.
Specifically, the thesis investigates the implications of post-metaphysical reimaginings of God for the theological categories of hamartiology and soteriology. When metaphysical assumptions no longer convince, how may we begin to reimagine the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, as well as salvation offered to a “fallen” humanity? The thesis proposes that a hermeneutical re-reading of certain counter-traditions in Scripture may assist the Church explore new ways forward. Specifically, such traditions may enable believers to traverse the polar opposites of atheism (the necessary death of the metaphysical God) on the one hand, and philosophically ignorant repetitions of theological formulations that no longer hold water, on the other, since both of these polarised options are undesirable on their extremities.
The methodology that the thesis applies is based on hermeneutical re-readings of biblical narratives and traditions. It re-engages those voices in the history of interpretation of biblical texts that offered alternative possibilities to the metaphysical way in which God (or sin and salvation) has traditionally been imagined. As such, we attempt an archaeology of the yetser, an Old Testament concept of imagination, and pay special attention to its Talmudic reinterpretation. The Gospel narratives of the Annunciation and Transfiguration, as well as the window that Song of Songs opens on the metaphor of the desire of God also receives special mention.
What results from this approach is, first, yet another deconstruction of the Augustinian formulation of original sin, as well as an eschatological reinterpretation of the Christ event in terms of the messianic Kingdom of God. Christ, who submits his yetser to the will of the Father in an act of worshipful surrender, becomes the perfect embodiment of the Word of God to a humanity whose yetser is perpetually put in service of itself in an act of idolatry. The enabling of the Kingdom of God in Jesus, who embodies the human telos, captures the human imagination and transfigures humanity through the existential experience of transcendence which breaks into its concrete reality through the Christ-event and its retelling. In this way, realising eschatology is possibilised through the imagination. Christ as prototype of the divinely intended telos of humanity becomes an existential possibility via the transfiguration, enacted by the imagination. This enables humanity to become co-creators with God of his new creation, or Kingdom of God.
Such an interpretation proposes an eschatological approach to God (a God of posse) as an alternative to the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnicausal God of metaphysics (the God of esse). Whereas the God of esse faces the discrediting of philosophy, is ever haunted by the conundrum of theodicy, and is a God torn between his love for and his judgment of a humankind caught in a perpetually sinful state, the God of posse captures the free yetser of humankind and ever calls creation forward to its fulfilment in God’s Messianic Kingdom of love and justice.

L’objet de cette thèse doctorale est la réponse poïétique et institutionnaliste offerte par Castoriadis au problème de la constitution d’une universalité pratique dans un contexte postmétaphysique. La thèse s’ouvre sur une définition de la philosophie politique comme projet d’objectivation institutionnelle de la raison et sur l’exposition du problème, pour cette discipline, engendré par la critique de la métaphysique et l’émergence d’une conception procédurale de la raison lors de la modernité. La thèse est ensuite divisée en deux parties. La première porte sur la philosophie de Castoriadis, c’est-à-dire sur sa critique de la pensée métaphysique, son ontologie et sa théorie de la connaissance. Nous y défendons la thèse interprétative que sa philosophie est un « pluralisme ontopoïétique constructiviste ». La seconde porte sur sa conception de la raison pratique, que nous interprétons comme « institutionnalisme postmétaphysique ». Nous concluons en explicitant les nouvelles médiations établies par Castoriadis entre philosophie et politique, sa conception de l’universalité pratique, et, par conséquent, la place qu’il occupe dans le temps long de l’histoire de la philosophie politique. Une perspective comparative a été privilégiée tout au long de notre argumentaire. Nous apprécions la singularité castoriadienne en la comparant avec des philosophies ayant partagé des problèmes communs et certains horizons thétiques, notamment l’héritage hégéliano-marxien et les philosophies de la différence.

The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to expose Castoriadis’ poïetical and institutional answer to the following question: how can we constitute a practical universality in a postmetaphysical context. Starting with a definition of political philosophy as the progressive and institutional objectification of reason, I first show how the modern radical critic of metaphysical thoughts and the modern emergence of a procedural conception of reason were both problematic for political philosophy. The thesis is then divided into two parts. The first part is devoted to Castoriadis’ philosophy and presents his own critics of metaphysical thinking, his ontology and his theory of knowledge. I then follow the interpretative thesis according to which Castoriadis’ philosophy can be characterized as an “ontopoïetical pluralistic constructivism”. The second part is about his conception of practical reason, which I interpret as a “postmetaphysical institutionalism”. I conclude by showing that Castoriadis offers not only new mediations between politics and philosophy but also an original conception of practical universality in the history of political philosophy. Using a comparative method, I put forward Castoriadis’ thoughts through a comparison with other philosophies that share common problems and thesis, e.g. the Hegelian-Marxian tradition and the philosophies of difference.

A recognised dialogue partner in the renewed philosophical quest for God, Richard Kearney subscribes to the move in contemporary philosophy of religion that places the God-after-God in a dialectical relationship with the metaphysical God of pure act and strives to overcome it. In The God who may be, Richard Kearney takes up the challenge of re-imagining God and traditional concepts of transcendence in a postmodern context, and in a way that takes issue with both idolatry and injustice. Between the two rival ways of interpreting the divine – the eschatological and the onto-theological – Kearney proposes the God-who-may-be as a third, “onto-eschatological” way that negotiates between these polar opposites.
The study examines Kearney’s post-metaphysical reflection on God. More specifically, it probes into his utilisation of both eschatology and the imagination as a way of negotiating a third way, according to a “poetics of the possible,” between the polar opposite understandings of God as either Being or Non-Being. It aims to understand The God who may be within the larger context of his trilogy and his other publications on the subjects of the imagination, ethics, hermeneutics, and “thinking God” post-metaphysically. It considers Kearney’s God of posse from a theological perspective, with the guiding question of what may be gained and what will be lost along the way of the post-metaphysical wager. The hypothesis is that Kearney’s notion of the God of posse promises new possibilities for leading theology and its discourse about God beyond metaphysical categories to allow for an eschatological understanding of the existence of God. The study finds that Kearney’s God of posse does present some interpretational difficulties, but ultimately concludes that, if approached within the confines that Kearney lays out for himself – namely that of a poetic, phenomenologico-hermeneutical exploration of certain symbols of the Judeo-Christian tradition – that Kearney at least prepares the field for thorough and creative theological engagement with his proposals.

Keywords: Richard Kearney; postmodern theology; post-metaphysical theology; Exodus 3:14; possibility/impossibility; philosophy-theology debate; “Religious turn” in Continental Philosophy; imagination and theology; God-who-may-be.

Саратов: Изд-во Сарат. ун-та, 2015. 268 с.
Уже на протяжении двух столетий не затихают дискуссии о преодолении ме-тафизики. Что же вызывает такое неприятие в метафизике и можно ли сказать, что критике удалось развеять метафизические иллюзии? Для ответа на эти и другие вопросы в монографии рассматривается история самоопределения метафизики, серия попыток ее преодоления, проблематизируется понятие постметафизического мышления и рассматриваются изменения философского ландшафта под влиянием постметафизических стратегий мышления.

Zeitgenössische philosophische Texte haben oftmals einen performativen Charakter, der gerade nicht als »Stil« zu bezeichnen, sondern ausdrücklich (mit-)gelesen werden muss, um die Aussage zu verstehen. Der Artikel zeichnet nicht nur mehrere zentrale Schrift-Gesten bei Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, Emmanuel Levinas, Jean-François Lyotard u.a. nach, sondern beschreibt zugleich in einer »Phänomenologie des Lesens« die Notwendigkeit dieser Ausdrucksformen für ein gegenwärtiges Denken, das auf metaphysische Ordnungen und Sicherheiten verzichten muss.

Resumen: La muerte de Hegel es tomada frecuentemente por los intérpretes como el acontecimiento que marca el final de la metafísica. Lo que generalmente se asume con ello no es sólo una determinada periodización de la historia de la filosofía, sino también una muy determinada interpretación de su "final" como agotamiento de algo que ha llegado al final de sus fuerzas y se desvanece como algo caduco y obsoleto. Pero si esto es así, ¿cómo explicar entonces los constantes repuntes del hegelianismo a lo largo del s. XX? ¿Son las últimas apariciones de una sombra del pasado que se deja ver por última vez antes de desvanecerse por completo? ¿O son más bien las manifestaciones de un espíritu vivo que se niega a ser enterrado como un "perro muerto"? ¿Es verdaderamente la muerte de Hegel como la del perro, o más bien como la de espíritu que mira a la muerte a los ojos y emerge renovado de ella? ¿Son las diversas reacciones contra Hegel que se suceden a lo largo del pensamiento postmetafísico la clara expresión histórica de una nueva conciencia filosófica que ha conseguido romper el lazo con la metafísica, o son más bien el síntoma de una nueva enajenación del espíritu destinada a escribir un nuevo capítulo de la Historia universal? El objetivo de este artículo es evidenciar el hegelianismo como el momento decisivo y final del despliegue del espíritu en el camino hacia la autoconciencia universal.

Abstract: The death of Hegel and the spirit of Hegelianism. Preface to the "final chapter" of the History of the universal spirit Hegel's death is frequently taken by interpreters as the event that marks the end of metaphysics. What is generally assumed with it is not only a certain periodization of the history of philosophy, but also a very determined interpretation of its "end" as exhaustion of something that has reached the end of its forces and vanishes as something expired and obsolete. But if this is so, how can we explain then the constant upsurges of Hegelianism throughout the s. XX? Are they the latest appearances of a shadow from the past that is last seen before fading away entirely? Or are they rather the manifestations of a living spirit that refuses to be buried like a "dead dog"? Is Hegel's death truly like the one of the dog, or rather like the one of the spirit that looks death in the eye and emerges renewed through it? Are the various reactions against Hegel that occur throughout post-metaphysical thought the clear historical expression of a new philosophical consciousness that has managed to break the link with metaphysics, or are they rather the symptom of a new alienation of the spirit destined to write a new chapter of universal history? The objective of this article is to highlight Hegelianism as the decisive and final moment of the spirit deployment on the path to the universal self-consciousness.

La idea de que una filosofía de la persona substancialista e individualista ha atravesado toda la metafísica occidental y ha constituido un obstáculo para pensar la comunión y la intersubjetividad, se ha convertido en un lugar común del pensamiento contemporáneo. Se problematiza aquí esta perspectiva. Se sugiere que sus distintas formulaciones, muy variadas, obedecieron a un argumento similar, dependiente también de fundamentos teóricos muy cercanos entre sí. Se compara este planteo con el del personalismo ontológico y se evalúan los resultados del intento llamado “postmetafísico” de alcanzar una filosofía de la comunión superando el humanismo. Autores variados como Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger, Foucault, Vattimo, Esposito, Butler, Scheler, entre otros, son referidos para ilustrar el debate.

The dynamics of religious subjectivity which
Kierkegaard defines in Fear and Trembling through Abraham’s
figure becomes, with Derrida’s deconstruction, the
diynamics of any subjectivity in a postmetaphysic horizon,
a subjectivity which has internalized the Absolut and
takes the autoconstitution’s task as an absolute and irreplaceable
duty. This dynamics, based in secret, forgiveness
and sacrifice underlies the decisions of Kierkegaard and
Kafka of following their writer’s vocation and abandoning
any other dimension of their lifes. Writing as an absolut
duty of create oneself and produce a work following
the indeterminable laws of oneself reveals the similarity
between literature’s constitution and this postmetaphysic
subjectivity. Literary discourse is also, with his open and
ambiguous meanings, an ineffable and untold secret to
which it is imposible to renounce.

Contrary to the self-professed notion that Patrick was simple and uneducated, scholarly evidence reveals him to have been a master-craftsman of Classic Biblical style composition and an expert computist (regarding the dating of Easter). His Confessio echoes elements of the lives of Pachomius and other third and fourth century saints, as well as the writings of Pelagius and Augustine. Recent research strongly suggests that Patrick was in Gaul around 457 and was associated with computist, Victorius of Aquitaine prior to his mission to Ireland. Connections between Patrick and popes Leo and Hilary are suggested, as well as the southern Irish 'Palladian' church as well as a postulated Roman enclave in northeastern Ireland. Patrick claimed to be an indoctus, unlearned, but he was an idoneus, a man of substance. Lacking the one thing he needed for his Irish mission beyond the limes of the Empire, a letter of authority, be became the epistle of Christ.

¿Cuál debe ser la actitud de un pensamiento genuinamente postmoderno ante el fenómeno religioso? ¿Debe contribuir a desterrarlo de nuestras sociedades (en alianza con cierto racionalismo ilustrado que siempre miró con suspicacia cuanto no cabía dentro de sus estrechos criterios) o, por el contrario, debe colaborar en su emergente renacimiento (y aliarse, por tanto, con los diversos tradicionalismos que lo reivindican)? La filosofía de Gianni Vattimo constituye una respuesta a esta disyuntiva (típicamente moderna) desde una perspectiva que pretende distorsionar (verwinden) tal dicotomía. La idea clave para ello es el concepto de secularización que a la vez que reconoce nuestra dependencia, como occidentales, de un cierto discurso religioso, lo debilita con el fin de eliminar de él su violencia (pues, de modo circular, reconoce que dentro de él ya existía in nuce el proyecto de esta eliminación, el proyecto de la kénosis). El presente artículo analiza someramente estas ideas y traza algunas de sus conexiones (no siempre explicitadas por el propio Vattimo) con el pensamiento teológico más reciente, para después reseñar algunas de las consecuencias que han tenido en los debates filosóficos hispanos.

Contrary to the self-professed notion that Patrick was simple and uneducated, scholarly evidence reveals him to have been a master-craftsman of Classic Biblical style composition and, quite likely, an expert computist (regarding the dating of Easter). His Confessio echoes elements of the lives of Pachomius and other third and fourth century saints, as well as the writings of Pelagius and Augustine. Recent research strongly suggests that Patrick was in Gaul around 457 and was associated with the computist Victorius of Aquitaine prior to his mission to Ireland. Connections, albeit tenuous, between Patrick and popes Leo and Hilary are suggested. A southern Irish 'Palladian' church is postulated, as well as a "Roman" enclave in northeastern Ireland serving a military deserter, Coroticus. Patrick claimed to be an indoctus, rustic and unlearned, but he was an idoneus, a man of substance. Lacking the one thing he needed to legitimate his mission beyond the limes of the Empire in Ulster, a letter of authority, he portrayed himself as the epistle of Christ.

¿Cómo es posible que los seres humanos nos podamos imponer  unos a otros, y de forma efectiva, normas y reglas? ¿De dónde recaban estas su poder o autoridad para resultar efectivas? Estas preguntas, que constituyen lo que en filosofía se denomina el problema de la normatividad, se tratan de responder en este libro con ayuda de diversas reflexiones del filósofo vienés Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), especialmente de las que corresponden a la conocida como segunda etapa de su pensamiento (posterior a 1929). Aunque el libro no es en sentido estricto una obra sobre Wittgenstein, sí que puede entenderse como un ejercicio que parte de sus argumentos sobre el mentado problema de la normatividad y de los cuales extrae varias conclusiones, especialmente de índole ética y política, en lo cual confluye con pensamientos de corte hermenéutico-nihilista como los del filósofo italiano Gianni Vattimo (1936-).

Nastojimo li se postaviti u odnos spram Urbančičeve filozofije i njezine misli, tada vrijedi izričito napomenuti da ona nije na volju već samim otvaranjem kazala neke od njegovih knjiga . Kazala filozofskih knjiga ne upućuju na stvar misli koja prožima ono što je u zapisanom pokazano iz onog misaonog samog, nego je za sve to potrebno čitanje, studij, probijanje kroz. U vrijeme internetske svedostupnosti to se dakako čini posvema suvišnim i nepotrebnim. Time nezadrživo postaje suvišna i filozofija sama, a kamoli da bismo još očekivali i kakvu misao u njoj.  A odakle nam uopće jamstvo da je mislilac domislio stvar vlastite, čak svojstvene misli, da nije sve skupa samo tek njegova doskočica?

Contrary to the self-professed notion that Patrick was simple and uneducated, scholarly evidence reveals him to have been a master-craftsman of Classic Biblical style composition and, quite likely, an expert computist (regarding the dating of Easter). His Confessio echoes elements of the lives of Pachomius and other third and fourth century saints, as well as the writings of Pelagius and Augustine. Recent research strongly suggests that Patrick was in Gaul around 457 and was associated with the computist Victorius of Aquitaine prior to his mission to Ireland. Connections, albeit tenuous, between Patrick and popes Leo and Hilary are suggested. A southern Irish 'Palladian' church is postulated, as well as a "Roman" enclave in northeastern Ireland serving a military deserter, Coroticus. Patrick claimed to be an indoctus, rustic and unlearned, but he was an idoneus, a man of substance. Lacking the one thing he needed to legitimate his mission beyond the limes of the Empire in Ulster, a letter of authority, he portrayed himself as the epistle of Christ.

В статье осуществляется рассмотрение аналитики понятия постметафизического мышления у Ю. Хабермаса. Из соотнесения четырех тем современной философии и их трансформации Хабермас выделяет четыре аспекта постметафизического мышления. Однако его собственный проект социальной коммуникации, который должен воплощать в себе все преимущества постметафизического мышления сам содержит в себе сложности, ставящие под вопрос дисциплинарное бытие философии вообще.

After God: Practical theology as public Christology from the margins of the market This article is part of a research project, Conversations after God. The focus of this article is to reflect on the theory and methodology of practical theology in a post-metaphysical (After God) context. It will be suggested that practical theology can redefine itself as public theology, but specifically as Christology by engaging the public texts within their contexts, but from a Christ-science hermeneutical approach. The proposed approach is a hermeneutical approach where the Christ-Ereignis guides the inner-and inter-textual reading of texts within contexts. This Christ-Ereignis cannot be translated into a science or even a definable philosophy and therefore the logos is crossed out. Christology, as public theology is done from the margins of the dominant discourses and therefore it could be seen as a Christology from the margins of the market to create spaces of kingdom life: life in fullness. In a post-metaphysical context, after the closure of metaphysics, all theologians have are texts and nothing beyond texts within contexts. What is left for theology in a post-metaphysical context? If there is nothing, why then is there a religious turn together with the turn to literature? Would the turn to literature not be enough if all one has are texts, so why is there also a turn to religion or lived spirituality (Van den Hoogen 2013)? In this article I will argue that the turn to literature is enough, but that does not exclude the possibility of God-talk, because what is left for theologians is an intertextual reading of texts from a Christological hermeneutic point of view. In a post-metaphysical context it does not make sense for theology to engage in speculation about the Other, the uncanny, the mysterious, and therefore I will explore a Christological alternative to the mystical turn to religion after the closure of metaphysics, as I believe this is more life-embracing than the various mystical turns. Post-metaphysical theology can be interpreted as being theological where God revealed in Christ is the hermeneutical centre of the whole theological approach, but without turning towards a speculation about the Other. Christology is the hermeneutical key of all the movements rather than just the traditional normative or prescriptive (historical and systematic theology) movements of the Zusammenshau (Ebeling 1975:164) of the encyclopaedia of theological disciplines. In other words, God, as revealed in Christ, is not only a theme to be reflected on in systematic or historical theology, but becomes a post-metaphysical interpretation of God which informs the methodology of doing theology as such. A post-metaphysical interpretation of God, which can engage public discourses critically and therefore a public theology from the margins, will be developed. To be able to say this and thereby make such a strong claim, certain things need to be unpacked. Where would such a theology begin? Theology would begin where one always already is, namely within the context of Dasein, that is, not the context in general, but the particular context of a particular Dasein (being-therein a particular world). The focus is on particular texts 1 (persons, experiences, practices, actions, phenomena) within their particular infinite chains of texts which form a web of texts, namely a context: archi-writing. Context, understood as that in which text(s) are embedded, and thus the context shapes and co-determines the meaning, value and identity of the texts. Texts find their home (habitus) within a particular web of texts that form the context or the archi-writing of that particular text. A text, on the other hand, is everything that can be identified, named, has meaning and is interpreted and as such it is writing: the construction of meaning through signs. This understanding of text always within context is developed from the linguistic turn, specifically in the thinking of Heidegger (1971) and Derrida (1997). Heidegger refers to language as the house of being 2. Yet, this house of being is taken for granted and as such it is not noticed, because it is the silent speaking of language that is forgotten or is not heard. 1.In this article I will follow Ricoeur in his use of the word 'text' to refer to the objects of sociological research (Ricoeur 1973:91). 2.'To reflect on language means to reach the speaking of language in such a way that this speaking takes place as that which grants an abode for the being of mortals' (Heidegger 1971:192).

The first book to explicitly address a political approach to neuroethics Provides a strong argument on the much debated issue of cognitive enhancement practices within society Deals with specific policy approaches and provides a tailored regulation model for cognitive enhancement This book explicitly addresses policy options in a democratic society regarding cognitive enhancement drugs and devices. The book offers an in-depth case by case analysis of existing and emerging cognitive neuroenhancement technologies and canvasses a distinct political neuroethics approach. The author provides an argument on the much debated issue of fairness of cognitive enhancement practices and tackles the tricky issue of how to respect preferences of citizens opposing and those preferring enhancement. The author persuasively argues the necessity of a laws and regulations regarding the use of cognitive enhancers. He also argues that the funds for those who seek cognitive enhancement should be allocated free of charge to the least advantaged. The work argues that the notion of autonomy has been mistakenly associated with the metaphysical concept of free will, and offers a political definition of autonomy to clarify how responsibility is implicitly grounded in the legal and political system. As such, this book is an essential read for everyone interested in neuroethics, and a valuable resource for policy makers, as well as scholars and students in philosophy, law, psychiatry and neuroscience.

Nietzsche and Habermas on Wille zur Macht: From a Metaphysical to a Post-Metaphysical Interpretation of Life. In this article, Shea aims to overturn Jürgen Habermas's characterization of Nietzsche in The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity as a postmodern irrationalist. On Habermas's account, Nietzsche employs Wille zur Macht both as a principle by which to invalidate the claims of metaphysics and as a primordial " other " to reason that unmasks reason as an expression of domination. If Habermas's reading is correct, Nietzsche's work is ultimately incoherent since it either lapses back into metaphysics or puts forward a self-refuting anti-metaphysics. Contrary to Habermas, Shea argues that Nietzsche's theoretical inquiries result from a considered methodological decision on the part of Nietzsche to suspend metaphysical interpretations. For this reason, Wille zur Macht can be read as the fabrication of a post-metaphysical principle for interpreting life rather than as a purported insight into the ultimate nature of reality and thus as a genuine alternative to the trappings of both metaphysical and anti-metaphysical philosophies.

This article explores Richard Kearney’s proposal of a God-who-may-be as an example of his characteristic hermeneutic exploration of the possible as a means of steering a middle way through philosophical extremes. Kearney’s post metaphysical proposal entails re-imagining God eschatologically, that is to say as neither Being nor non-Being, but as the possibility-to-be. The hypothesis is that Kearney’s notion of possibility engenders new prospects for discourse about God that moves us beyond metaphysical categories to allow for an eschatological understanding of God in terms of post metaphysical thought. Specifically, Kearney’s eschatological approach mediates between the polar opposition of thinking God as either Being or Non-Being, thereby providing post metaphysical avenues for re-imagining God as the God-who-may-be. Our point of access to this proposal of Kearney’s is his 2007 article “Re-imagining God,” which is discussed in this essay. The study concludes by considering the possibilities disclosed by Kearney’s approach as an invitation to Systematic Theology to engage with philosophy in exploring post metaphysical ways of speaking about God.

Kerstin BORCHHARDT is a German Philosopher and Art Historian, with a PhD in Art History from Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena, where she was granted scholarships from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, the Gerda Henkel Stiftung and the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung. She taught at the University of Erfurt from 2013 to 2014. From 2014 to 2019, worked as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Art History at the University of Leipzig. In 2019, she did a research stay in Mexico City, where she participated in the Encuentro Internacional Cioran: entre Filosofía y Literatura, with a conference revolving around the assimilation of Nietzsche’s philosophy by Emil Cioran.

Unpublished PhD thesis in Philosophy. Presented for the degree of PhD in Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Malta; defended successfully and passed without corrections in July 2014. Supervised by Rev. Prof. Peter Serracino Inglott and Rev. Dr Mark Sultana of the University of Malta, and Prof. Dr Paola-Ludovika Coriando of Innsbruck University, Austria.

Brief description: In my thesis I establish a framework for a re-understanding of the term 'post-metaphysics' through a dialogue between the thought of Martin Heidegger and that of Ludwig Wittgenstein and I seek to establish a theoretico-philosophical foundation for a re-evaluation of 'objectivity' in contemporary (post-)metaphysics. In the thesis I argue for the contemporary significance and validity of the 'correspondence theory of truth' which I show to be still a legitimate fundamental principle of metaphysics in the contemporary post-metaphysical scenario. 

My doctoral research was partially funded by the STEPS Scholarship Scheme (scholarship won in 2011).

A hard-copy of the thesis is deposited at the Faculty of Arts Library at the University of Malta and a soft-copy is accessible from the work-stations in the Main University of Malta Library.

На протяжении последних двух столетий мы являемся свидетелями устойчивости философского дискурса критики метафизики и требований ее преодоления. Как сама метафизика, так и ее критика могут быть рассмотрены с точки зрения онтологии власти. Метафизика как наука о первоначалах представляет собой определенную систему онтологической власти: сущее как сущее рассматривается как основание для любого возможного конечного сущего, причина властвует над следствием, цель — над действием. Исходя из этого метафизика распространяет свою власть и за пределы онтологического дискурса, задавая структуру говорения,
претендует на организацию диспозиции сил обращения с сущим. Автор разделяет антиметафизический и постметафизический дискурсы. Антиметафизический дискурс ведет борьбу с дискурсом метафизическим через демонстрацию бессмысленности или недостаточности метафизического способа осмысления философских проблем. Однако это превращает антиметафизический дискурс в сверхметафизику. Постметафизическое мышление не стремится утвердить волю к власти философствующего субъекта за счет замены «бессмысленности» метафизики на тот или иной философский «смысл», а трансформирует все поле философии таким образом, чтобы воля к власти бралась в форме одновременной дифференциации и синтеза соотношения сил. В постметафизическом мышлении происходит не столько преодоление метафизики, сколько пересматривается сама система иерархических отношений, онтология власти, лежащая в основании философского мышления.

Kerstin BORCHHARDT é filósofa e historiadora da arte, doutora em História da Arte pela Universidade Friedrich-Schiller, em Iena, onde obteve bolsas de estudo de importantes instituições como Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, Gerda Henkel Stiftung e Fritz Thyssen Stiftung. Lecionou na Universidade de Erfurt de 2013 a 2014. De 2014 a 2019, trabalhou como assistente de pesquisa no Instituto de História da Arte da Universidade de Leipzig. Em 2019, fez uma estadia de pesquisa na Cidade do México, onde participou do Encuentro Internacional Cioran: entre Filosofía y Literatura, apresentando uma conferência sobre a assimilação da filosofia de Nietzsche por Emil Cioran.

In questo saggio prenderò in esame il confronto di Jürgen Habermas con la metafisica in Nachmetaphysisches Denken (1988), individuando in particolare nella terza parte dell’opera il nucleo decisivo rispetto al quale deve essere misurata la validità delle tesi quivi sostenute, e presentando alcune obiezioni al modo in cui Habermas caratterizza il pensiero metafisico. Sosterrò quindi che se i tratti che identificano il Nachmetaphysisches Denken  vanno intesi quali criteri di demarcazione tra metafisica e non metafisica, allora il progetto posmetafisico di Habermas non è a mio avviso sostenibile e ricade in una forma di metafisica inconsapevole; se invece tali tratti fossero intesi quali indici di trasformazione della metafisica, allora sarebbe possibile,  mit Habermas gegen Habermas, sviluppare immanentemente un approccio alla metafisica rinnovato criticamente sul terreno dell’intersoggettività e della totalità opaca.

En este trabajo nos proponemos poner en consideración una cuestión que podría resultar problemática para la concepción democrática deliberativa habermasiana y para la ética del discurso en general, a saber: ¿puede el modelo comunicativo de integración social –en donde, según sostiene este planteo teorético, queda anclada la razón en tiempos postmetafísicos y desde donde surge la concepción deliberativa de democracia- considerarse el último eslabón de una cadena evolutiva que ha llegado a un fin? ¿Ese proceso histórico debe pensarse como un itinerario teleológico irreversible y necesario? ¿Una vez establecido, ese patrón de integración es insustituible o podrían surgir futuros modelos de integración social que lo suplanten? O, en todo caso, ¿qué es lo que hace que ese derrotero se clausure definitivamente?

Parece que en tiempos de postmetafísica, donde se quiere huir de todo autoritarismo (ya sea epistémico, ya sea ético o político), la democracia cuenta con la baza a su favor de ser el sistema político que más favorece el diálogo sobre la imposición, la tolerancia por encima de la opresión. Ahora bien, una democracia que asuma plenamente su condición postmetafísica habrá de contar con ciertas características si quiere ser del todo coherente con este su avatar contemporáneo. Concretamente, en nuestra comunicación pergeñamos unas cuantas de ellas: así, la democracia deberá adecuarse a la sociedad civil postmoderna siendo capaz, en primer lugar, de fundamentarse no en algo así como una teoría política fuerte (que crea haber hallado de una vez por todas el mejor de los ordenamientos políticos posibles), sino que más bien los demócratas deberán hacer de la carencia de fundamentos absolutos y perentorios que caracterizan a la posibilidad democrática su mejor virtud. Esta cierta “modestia” de la democracia postmetafísica le marcará a ésta, además, un camino en el cual deberá escapar de dos extremos parejamente desdeñables: tanto de la fe ciega en la “salvación” del hombre por medio de la actividad política (que deja en manos de “ideólogos” o “iluminados” la esfera pública), como el sometimiento del espacio de lo político a una tecnocrática racionalidad medios-fines (que deja en manos de los “expertos” o “científicos” toda la acción común). Por el contrario, la política democrática, consciente de que debe dejar en manos de la sociedad civil gran parte del tráfico de interacciones humanas, se limitará tan sólo a ofrecer el marco donde estas se lleven a cabo del modo más tolerante y pacífico, no autoritario, que sea menester; no pretenderá competir con las religiones, verbigracia, a la hora de llenar de sentido la vida de los hombres (como haría un planteamiento estrictamente laicista de la misma), sino que más bien habría de facilitar a estas las condiciones mínimas para su libre y fecundo desarrollo.

Por siglos, la filosofía occidental y todo el pensamiento que ha heredado la humanidad hasta el día de hoy tiene por principio un constructo teórico cuyas bases se creen firmes y duraderas bajo la pretensión de crear sistemas capaces de una total comprensión del mundo. Empero el uso extenso de oposiciones en las que se privilegia un elemento sobre otro y, por ello, lo otro se suprime frente a lo que se estima de privilegio, determina en últimas la forma operativa de la que dependió los filósofos y la cual Derrida intenta someter a crítica.

La violencia tradicionalmente se ha definido, de un modo u otro, como aquello que saca de su "lugar natural" algo o a alguien. Esta definición, empero, peca de una fe metafísica en esos "lugares naturales" o "naturaleza de las cosas" que casa mal con el pensamiento postmetafísico actual. Por ello este texto propone una lectura alternativa de la idea de violencia, basada sobre todo en la idea de "interrupción autoritaria del diálogo"; idea de patentes raíces hermenéuticas y, más concretamente, vattimianas. Además, este autor, Vattimo, propone un programa de "reducción de la violencia" como destino de nuestra época que se analiza aquí también.