The Fourth Annual TELOS Conference

Rituals of Exchange and States of Exception:
Continuity and Crisis in Politics and Economics

January 15-16, 2011
New York City

Conference paper proposals with a 200-word abstract and a short CV due by September 1, 2010, to David Pan at dtpan@uci.edu. (Mark subject line as “Telos conference proposal.”)

Conference Registration Fee: $145, which includes lunch and dinner on January 15.
If you have any questions about the conference, please contact us at telospress@aol.com. [source]

Notable Publications

The Gift of Difference:
Radical Orthodoxy, Radical Reformation
Chris K. Huebner and Tripp York, Editors
Foreword by John Milbank

The Gift of Difference: Radical Orthodoxy, Radical Reformation is a collection of essays in which leading theologians consider the strengths and weaknesses of Radical Orthodoxy in dialogue with the Radical Reformation tradition. Writers in this volume engage topics such as ecclesiology, martyrdom, worship, oath-taking, peace and violence.

Table of Contents:

• Foreword: John Milbank
• Introduction: Tripp York and Chris K. Huebner
• “Two Cheers for an Ontology of Violence: Reflections on Im/possibility”, Peter C. Blum
• “Milbank and Violence: Against a Derridean Pacifism”, Kevin Derksen
• “The Ballad of John and Anneken”, Tripp York
• “The Word Made Silent: Reflections on Christian Identity and Scripture”, C. Rosalee Velloso Ewell
• “Narrative Proclamation and Gospel Truthfulness: Why Christian Testimony Needs Speakers”, Craig Hovey
• “Fugitive Ecclesia”, Peter Dula
• “Desire and Theological Politics”, D. Stephen Long
• “Harmony in Exile: Rest in its Embers”, Cheryl Pauls
• “Participation, Peace, and Forgiveness: Milbank and Yoder in Dialogue”, Harry J. Huebner
• “Radical Orthodoxy, Radical Reformation: What Might Milbank and Mennonites Learn from Each Other?”, Chris K. Huebner

Click here for more information from the publisher.

Unsettling Arguments:
A Festschrift on the Occasion of Stanley Hauerwas’s 70th Birthday
Edited by Charles R. Pinches, Kelly S. Johnson, Charles M. Collier

Contributors: Scott Bader-Saye, Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt, Michael Baxter, Daniel M. Bell Jr., Jana Marguerite Bennett, Michael G. Cartwright, William T. Cavanaugh, Peter Dula, Chris K. Huebner, Kelly S. Johnson, D. Stephen Long, M. Therese Lysaught, David Matzko McCarthy, Joel James Shuman, J. Alexander Sider, Jonathan Tran, Paul J. Wadell, Theodore Walker Jr.

Click here for more information and to purchase from Wipf & Stock.

Stanley Hauerwas Event

cordially invite you to the following event:
Stanley Hauerwas in Conversation with John Milbank & Luke Bretherton

to mark the publication of:
Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir
BY STANLEY HAUERWAS

on Monday 18th October 2010 from 5.30-7.00pm
at the Great Hall, Strand Campus, King’s College London
Get directions here

Demand is sure to be high and spaces are limited. Please ensure you RSVP before the 8th October 2010 to be added to the guest list.

Email anita@hymnsam.co.uk or telephone: 020 7776 7550.

Notable Publications

Below are books of note that may be of interest to affiliates of the Centre. Also below are books written, edited, or translated by members and staff of the Centre. All book descriptions come from the publisher.

The Metaphysical Presuppositions of Being-in-the-world:
A Confrontation Between St. Thomas Aquinas and Martin Heidegger
by Caitlin Smith Gilson

The Metaphysical Presuppositions of Being-in-the-World brings St. Thomas Aquinas and Martin Heidegger into dialogue and argues for the necessity of Christian philosophy. Through the confrontation of Heideggerian and Thomist thought, it offers an original and comprehensive rethinking of the nature of temporality and the origins of metaphysical inquiry. The book is a careful treatment of the inception and deterioration of the four-fold presuppositions of Thomistic metaphysics: intentionality, causality, finitude, ananke stenai. The analysis of the four-fold has never before been done and it is a central and original contribution of Gilson’s book. The four-fold penetrates the issues between the phenomenological approach and the metaphysical vision to arrive at their core and irreconcilable difference. Heidegger’s attempt to utilize the fourfold to extrude theology from ontology provides the necessary interpretive impetus to revisit the radical and often misunderstood metaphysics of St. Thomas, through such problems as aeviternity, non-being and tragedy.
[Purchase UK | Purchase US]

Robert Spaemann’s Philosophy of the Human Person:
Nature, Freedom, and the Critique of Modernity
by Holger Zaborowski

The German philosopher Robert Spaemann provides an important contribution to a number of contemporary debates in philosophy and theology, opening up possibilities for conversation between these disciplines. He engages in a dialogue with classical and contemporary positions and often formulates important and original insights which lie beyond common alternatives. In this study Holger Zaborowski provides an analysis of the most important features of Spaemann’s philosophy and shows the unity of his thought. The question ‘Who is a person?’ is of increasing significance: Are all human beings persons? Are there animals that can be considered persons? What does it mean to speak of personal identity and of the dignity of the person? Spaemann provides an answer to these questions: Every human being, he argues, is a person and, therefore, ‘has’ his nature in freedom. In order to understand the person, Spaemann explains, we have to think about the relation between nature and freedom and avoid the reductive accounts of this relation prevalent in important strands of modern thought. Spaemann develops a challenging critique of modernity, incorporating analysis of modern anti-modernisms and showing that these are also subject to a dialectical development, perpetuating the problematic shortcomings of many features of modern reasoning. If we do not want to abolish ourselves as persons, Spaemann reasons, we need to find a way of understanding ourselves that evades the dialectic of modernity. Thus, he reminds his readers of ‘self-evident’ knowledge: insights that we have once already known, but tend to forget.
[Purchase UK | Purchase US]

After the Postsecular and the Postmodern:
New Essays in Continental Philosophy of Religion
edited by Anthony Paul Smith and Daniel Whistler

Continental philosophy of religion has been dominated for two decades by ‘postsecular’ and ‘postmodern’ thought. This volume brings together a vanguard of scholars to ask what comes after the postsecular and the postmodern – that is, what is Continental philosophy of religion now? Against the subjugation of philosophy to theology, After the Postsecular and the Postmodern: New Essays in Continental Philosophy of Religion argues that philosophy of religion must either liberate itself from theological norms or mutate into a new practice of thinking in order to confront the challenges religion presents for our time. The essays do not propose a new orthodoxy but set the stage for new debates by reclaiming a practice of philosophy of religion that recovers and draws on the insights of a distinctly modern tradition of Continental philosophy, confronts the challenge of rethinking the secular in the light of the postsecular event, and calls for a move from strictly critical to speculative thought in order to experiment with what philosophy can do. This collection of essays is indispensable for anyone interested in the relationship between philosophy and theology, political questions regarding religion and in what contemporary speculative Continental philosophy has to add to philosophy of religion.
[Purchase UK | Purchase US]

Absence of Mind: The Dispelling of Inwardness from the Modern Myth of the Self (Terry Lectures)
by Marilynne Robinson

In this ambitious book, acclaimed writer Marilynne Robinson applies her astute intellect to some of the most vexing topics in the history of human thought – science, religion, and consciousness. Crafted with the same care and insight as her award-winning novels, Absence of Mind challenges postmodern atheists who crusade against religion under the banner of science. In Robinson’s view, scientific reasoning does not denote a sense of logical infallibility, as thinkers like Richard Dawkins might suggest. Instead, in its purest form, science represents a search for answers. It engages the problem of knowledge, an aspect of the mystery of consciousness, rather than providing a simple and final model of reality. By defending the importance of individual reflection, Robinson celebrates the power and variety of human consciousness in the tradition of William James. She explores the nature of subjectivity and considers the culture in which Sigmund Freud was situated and its influence on his model of self and civilization. Through keen interpretations of language, emotion, science, and poetry, Absence of Mind restores human consciousness to its central place in the religion-science debate.
[Purchase UK | Purchase US]

Bendict XVI: A Guide for the Perplexed
by Tracey Rowland

This title presents an upper-level introduction to the thought and theology of Pope Benedict XVI. This Guide provides students of theology with a guide around the theoretical axes upon which the theology of Joseph Ratzinger revolves. It begins with a presentation of the key ideas in the works of his intellectual antecedents and contemporary interlocutors and then moves to an account of Ratzinger’s responses to a number of theological crises. The work then moves to an account of Ratzinger’s understanding of Christianity as an encounter with the Person of Christ and his placement of Christianity within the context of world religions in general. This theme is spread throughout his publications and recurs in the first encyclical of his papacy, Deus Caritas Est. This first encyclical will be treated in depth along with the second and third encyclicals which form a trilogy on the theological virtues (love, hope and faith). The work concludes with an assessment of the primacy of the transcendental of beauty in the theology of Ratzinger, his affinity with Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Augustinian motif of the relationship between love and reason. “Continuum’s Guides for the Perplexed” are clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging – or indeed downright bewildering. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to grasp, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material.
[Purchase UK | Purchase US]

Spinoza and the Specters of Modernity: The Hidden Enlightenment of Diversity from Spinoza to Freud
by Michael Mack

Spinoza and the Specters of Modernity draws new theoretical conclusions from a study of Spinoza’s legacy in the age of Goethe and beyond, largely transmitted through the writings of Herder, that will have implications for the study of German intellectual history and, more broadly, the study of religion and literature. Michael Mack describes how a line of writers and thinkers re-configured Spinoza’s ideas and how these ideas thus became effective in society at large. Mack shows that the legacy of Spinoza is important because he was the first thinker to theorize narrative as the constitutive fabric of politics, identity, society, religion and the larger sphere of culture. Indeed, Mack argues for Spinoza’s writings on politics and ethics as an alternative to a Kantian conception of modernity.
[Purcahse UK | Purchase US]

Romano Guardini: Reform from the Source
by Hans Urs von Balthasar
translated by Albert K. Wimmer and D. C. Schindler

Romano Guardini (1885-1968) was one of the greatest Catholic minds of the twentieth century. He helped shape Catholic theology between the two world wars and after, as well as the thinking of many non-Catholics of the period. His influence contributed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and it continues to be felt through Pope Benedict, who, as a theologian, a cardinal and now as Pope, has drawn extensively on Guardini for inspiration. Indeed, Guardini was a major theological mentor of Benedict XVI, influencing the Pope from his understanding of Jesus to his writings on the sacred Liturgy, from his view of faith to his perspective on the modern world.

Romano Guardini: Reform from the Source, written by another great theological mind, Hans urs von Balthasar, presents a kind of “roadmap” to Guardini’s thought. As an introduction to Guardini, von Balthasar’s study is intended to challenge readers to take up Guardini’s own writings and to find in him the wisdom that has inspired so many others. Many of Guardini’s influential works are still in print today, works that cover a wide range of important spiritual, theological and moral issues.
[Purchase UK | Purchase US]

Forthcoming Titles:

Future Christ: A Lesson in Heresy
by François Laruelle
translated by Anthony Paul Smith
(forthcoming 16 Dec 2010)

In this work Laruelle draws on material from the traditions of Christianity, Judaism and Gnosticism, but he does so by suspending their authority. This adventure in non-philosophy does not claim to think for religion, but from it as material and with disinterest towards its self-given status as ultimate authority. This provocative, yet remarkably accessible book introduces philosophy to the lessons of heresy and makes use of them in a non-philosophical “dualysis” of messianism and apocalypticism. Laruelle investigates the “heretic question”, analogous to but historically distinguished from the “Jewish question”, to develop a “non-Christian science” that struggles against and for our World. Future Christ thus opens up novel ways of thinking within existing religious and philosophical thought and marks an incisive and wide-ranging non-philosophical engagement with key contemporary debates in philosophy and theology.
[Purchase UK | Purchase US]

Paul’s New Moment: Continental Philosophy and the Future of Christian Theology
by John Milbank, Slavoj Žižek, and Creston Davis, with a contribution from Catherine Pickstock
(forthcoming 1 December 2010)

The rediscovery of the Apostle Paul by atheistic or agnostic European philosophers is one of the most striking developments in recent philosophy–and certainly one of keen interest to the church. These philosophers view Paul as having a revolutionary understanding of authority and politics. Bringing together Radical Orthodox theologian John Milbank, Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, and Creston Davis, who has been a student of both, this book reflects on Paul’s new moment in secular philosophy. In a debate format, Žižek brings Marxist and post-Marxist ideas into a discussion with Milbank about the influence of Paul. The book also includes a contribution from Catherine Pickstock.
[Purchase UK | Purchase US]

The Truth is the Way: Kierkegaard’s Theologia Viatorum (Veritas)
by Christopher Ben Simpson
(forthcoming 31 August 2010)

“SCM Veritas” engages in critical and original questions of pressing concern to both philosophers and theologians. The major concern of all books in this series is to display a rigorous theological critique of categories not often thought to be theological in character, such as phenomenology or metaphysics which are mainly considered as philosophical categories. All the books in this series aim to illustrate that without theology, something essential is lost in our accounts of such categories – not only in the abstract but in the way in which we inhabit the world. The Danish existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard is one of the most influential thinkers for of the 19th century. His work crosses the boundaries of theology, philosophy, psychology and literature. This book presents another way of reading Kierkegaard – as a robustly theological , even metaphysical, thinker – as post-postmodern, even Radically Orthodox.
[Purchase UK | Purchase US]

Alberto Toscano at the Institute of Contemporary Arts London

From Verso:

Alberto Toscano will be launching ‘Fanaticism’ on Thursday 8 July, 6.45pm, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH. Toscano will address the key issues at the heart of his new book, and welcome discussion from attendees. For more information and to book tickets, please call +44 (0)20 7930 3647, or visit the ICA website:  http://www.ica.org.uk/?lid=24949

About the book:

The idea of fanaticism as a deviant or extreme variant of an already irrational set of religious beliefs is today invoked by the West in order to demonize and psychologize any non-liberal politics. Alberto Toscano’s compelling and erudite counter-history explodes this accepted interpretation in exploring the critical role fanaticism played in forming modern politics and the liberal state. Tracing its development from the traumatic Peasants’ War of early sixteenth-century Germany, to contemporary Islamism, Toscano tears apart the sterile opposition of ‘reasonableness’ and fanaticism. Instead, in a radical new interpretation, he places the fanatic at the very heart of politics, arguing that historical and revolutionary transformations require a new understanding of its role. Showing how fanaticism results from the failure to formulate an adequate emancipatory politics, this illuminating history sheds new light on an idea that continues to dominate debates about faith and secularism.

About the author:

Alberto Toscano is a senior lecturer in sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is the author of The Theatre of Production, translator of Alain Badiou’s The Century and Logics of Worlds and co-editor of Alain Badiou’s Theoretical Writings and On Beckett. He has published numerous articles on contemporary philosophy, politics and social theory, and is an editor of Historical Materialism. More information can be found here: http://www.gold.ac.uk/sociology/staff/toscano

Download the flyer here.

Now Available: Protestant Metaphysics after Karl Barth and Martin Heidegger

Now available for purchase is Timothy Stanley’s Protestant Metaphysics after Karl Barth and Martin Heidegger, released in the Veritas series by SCM Press in conjunction with the Centre of Theology and Philosophy.

From the author’s website:

What is the relationship between Martin Heidegger’s critique of metaphysical theology and Karl Barth’s? Or, more broadly, what is the relationship between the Greek metaphysical tradition and Protestant Christianity? My research challenges both an oversimplified conflation of Barth and Heidegger’s thought as well as the pretense that an (a)theist philosopher and dogmatic theologian have nothing to say to each other. The result of this juxtaposition of philosophical and theological aspects of Barth and Heidegger’s work is a clear articulation of two different Protestant attitudes towards metaphysics. Whereas Heidegger interpreted Luther in a way which ultimately led to a divorce between metaphysics and theology, Barth saw Luther as the progenitor of a non-foundationalist affirmation of the being of God. In either case the boundaries between theology and philosophy were radically reconfigured in a way which continues to dominate both disciplines to this day.

Below are the blurbs for Stanley’s book:

‘This is an impressive work. Stanley not only forges new ways of thinking about Protestant ontology in relation to Postmodernism, but advances the discussion of Heidegger’s relation to Luther and Barth’s use of Anselm to develop a truly theological ontology. Highly recommended, especially, for courses in twentieth-century theology.’

— William Dyrness, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA

‘Elegantly written and argued, this book by Timothy Stanley offers us a bold and exciting re-reading of the heritage of Karl Barth, who is here proposed a profound countervalence to the ‘postmodern’ realization of Protestant metaphysics in Martin Heidegger. In so doing Stanley unsettles more than a few of our settled lucidities concerning not least the status of ‘ontology’ in Barth’s thought. This book proves the vitality of Barth beyond the old pro et contra that would squeeze the great Swiss theologian into the confines of some predetermined ‘Barthianism’.’

— Aaron Riches, Centre of Theology and Philosophy, University of Nottingham, UK

‘In this crisply written, thought-provoking book Timothy Stanley offers the reader a penetrating study of the problem of theological ontology and onto-theology in the thought of Barth and Heidegger, as well as an insightful discussion of the significance of these two thinkers’ insights for Protestant theology today. Particularly impressive is the way Stanley uncovers the Protestant elements of Heidegger’s thought and his exploration of how Barth attempts to root metaphysics in the being of the Trinitarian God. This impressive and imaginative book will be essential reading for anyone engaged in thinking through the possibility of a post-ontological, postmodern theology after Barth and Heidegger.’

— David R. Law, University of Manchester, UK

‘For better or worse twentieth century Continental philosophy and Protestant theology were dominated by Heidegger and Barth respectively, and each remains the focus of lively discussion: admirers and adversaries have always been wary of relating these two apparently incompatible narratives of human destiny to one another until now: providing compact and very fair accounts of each, Timothy Stanley goes on to make comparisons between the two which cast unexpected new light on Heidegger’s atheism and Barth’s Christian faith.’

— Fergus Kerr, Honorary Fellow in Divinity, University of Edinburgh

Timothy Stanley is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Christianity and Contemporary Culture at the University of Manchester, UK. Protestant Metaphysics after Karl Barth and Martin Heidegger may be purchased here.

Stanley Hauerwas Interview

In 2001 Time magazine named Stanley Hauerwas “America’s Best Theologian.” Hauerwas found the distinction humorous, but it catapulted him and his pacifist, anti-nationalistic views into the spotlight at a time when our country was poised for war. Soon he was also America’s best-known theologian. His new book, Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir (Purchase US | Purchase UK) traces his life and the development of his intellectual thought. He joins host Frank Stasio to talk about everything from his working-class Texas roots to the state of Christianity today. Listen to the interview here.

Darwin’s Pious Idea pre-order sale on Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.co.uk has a special pre-order price for the hardcover edition of Conor Cunningham’s Darwin’s Pious Idea: Why Ultra-Darwinists and Creationists Both Get it Wrong (Interventions) going for £11.99 (£14.00 off retail, 54% off). It may be pre-ordered here.

Darwin’s Pious Idea announced by Eerdmans

Eerdmans Publishing Company has announced Conor Cunningham’s Darwin’s Pious Idea: Why the Ultra-Darwinists and Creationists Both Get It Wrong (forthcoming in the Interventions series Fall 2010).

Below is a sampling of endorsements. (Remaining blurbs can be found here.)

“This work of stunning scientific erudition and critical insight differs from the common polemics with Dawkins’ and Dennett’s theories which, while accepting their extreme Neo-Darwinist thesis, isolate it from their atheist conclusions. Professor Cunningham shows on a wealth of scientific and philosophical evidence how vulnerable the thesis is that lies at the root of those conclusions and how its genetic one-sidedness undermines the ground of Darwin’s evolutionary biology.”

Louis Dupré — Yale University

“Writing with engaging humor that betrays an extraordinary energetic intelligence, Conor Cunningham shows us why, given the Christian God, an evolutionary account of life is necessary. In the process he negotiates the philosophical controversies intrinsic to evolutionary science in a manner that illumines how some of the implications of that science mimic Christian heresies. This theological account of creation, I believe, will become a classic.”

Stanley Hauerwas — Duke University

“This is an excellent book! Very well informed and written in an accessible style, it will be easily understood by lay readers, especially thanks to the beautiful, simple examples, stories, and quotations that Cunningham employs. In addition, his interpretation of genetic science is faultless. I learned a great deal from this book!”

Michel Morange — Center for the Study of the History of Science, École Normale Supérieure, Paris

“Conor Cunningham established his reputation with the original and profound Genealogy of Nihilism. In recent years a handful of ‘sand-box’ atheists, prominent in the media, have invoked Darwin and evolution when defending their positions. In this sparkling yet rigorous book Cunningham deals with the philosophical dimensions and theological implications of evolutionary theory. Anyone who longs for this debate to be taken to a proper, intellectually challenging level needs to read Cunningham.”

Ken Surin — Duke University

“The last couple of decades have witnessed a dismal and hopelessly polarized confrontation between literalist Christians and equally fundamentalist ultra-Darwinians. Darwin would have been appalled. Here at last is a judicious and fascinating book that elegantly shows the artificiality of this mutually debilitating conflict, and tells us a lot about both evolution and belief in the bargain.”

Ian Tattersall — American Museum of Natural History, New York

“This book attempts to connect the debate about the nature of Darwinian evolution to the Christian theology of creation. The latter is often implicitly invoked — as, for instance, when the claim is made that Darwin has shown that God cannot exist — but rarely clearly discussed. Cunningham shows that the picture of God as the great Designer of artifacts, espoused by Paley and common to both ultra-Darwinians and Creationists, is profoundly at odds with Christianity. The battle between these last two is another of those incidents foreseen by Arnold in his ‘Dover Beach,’ where ‘ignorant armies clash by night.’ ”

Charles Taylor — McGill University, author of A Secular Age

“Even those sympathetic to the recent wave of evolutionary attacks on religion cannot help feeling that something is missing there: Dawkins and company lack a minimum of understanding of what religion is about, of how it works. Cunningham’s book is thus obligatory reading for all interested in this topic: while fully endorsing the scientific validity of Darwinism, it clearly brings to light its limitations in understanding not only religion but also our human predicament. A book like Cunningham’s is needed like simple bread in our confused times.”

Slavoj Žižek

“In this magnum opus Cunningham steadily pushes ultra-Darwinism and reductionist materialism for their self-undermining inconsistencies, in extremes neither permitting enough logic for understanding life. Exposing these sciences turned into scientism, he then embraces, complementary to the sciences, a deeply Christian account of creation, of both nature and human life enriched in encounter with Christ. A provocative, moving, and stimulating account.”

Holmes Rolston III — Colorado State University

Click on the following links to to see the book description, remaining blurbs, and author description.

Did Darwin Kill God? receives Merit Award

RELIGIOUS TELEVISION AWARDS 2010

‘On 25th May 2010 the Rt Revd Nick Baines presented 4 awards at Lambeth Palace. Roger Bolton, chair of the judging panel, announced the winners.’ [source] From the speech by Roger Bolton:

We decided to give the second of our TV merit awards to a very different sort of programme. For BBC 2, Conor Cunningham asked Did Darwin Kill God?. His answer was “no” and he convincingly demonstrated to us that Darwin did not think he had done so either.

This sort of demanding programme is difficult to present on television, particularly at 7pm for an hour, when many potential viewers will still be getting home for work or making supper. And providing a visually appropriate accompaniment to an abstract argument requires considerable imagination on behalf of both director and presenter.

But the audience was over a million, and for many of us, the argument Conor Cunningham advanced was a welcome relief from the ritualised combat of extremists such as Richard Dawkins and assorted creationists, who are fighting a battle many think is more suited to the early 19th century than the 21st.

The Aquinas Institute at Blackfriars, Oxford: Special Lecture

Monday 17 May 2010, 5.00pm
Blackfriars, 64 St Giles’.

‘The Summa Theologiae as Mystagogy? Thomas Aquinas and the Discipline of the Secret’
Speaker: Professor Peter M. Candler Jr.,

Professor Peter M. Candler Jr. is Associate Professor of Theology at Baylor University and author of Theology, Rhetoric, Manuduction or, Reading Scripture Together on the Path to God (link: UK | US)

Further information from Vivian Boland OP: vivian.boland@english.op.org / 01865 278407

Official Statement from the Centre on the Closure of the Middlesex Philosophy Department

From the director of the Centre of Theology and Philosophy, Professor John Milbank:

The Middlesex Philosophy Department has the full and unqualified support of the Centre of Theology and Philosophy at the University of Nottingham on account of the excellence of its work which arguably sets the highest standards within contemporary British philosophical reflection. We therefore bitterly oppose the decision of Middlesex University to close it down and consider that this has the direst possible implications for the future of British Philosophy.

If you haven’t already signed the petition, please do so here.

Middlesex University Shamefully Cuts Philosophy Department

This week the administration at Middlesex University has made a decision to cut the entirety of their highest-rated department: their philosophy department including all undergrad and graduate (MA/MPhil/PhD) programmes. The following is an announcement letter from Peter Hallward, Peter Osborne,  and Stella Sandford:

Dear colleagues,

Late on Monday 26 April, the Dean of the School of Arts & Humanities, Ed Esche, informed staff in Philosophy that the University executive had ‘accepted his recommendation’ to close all Philosophy programmes: undergraduate, postgraduate and MPhil/PhD.

Philosophy is the highest research-rated subject in the University. Building on its grade 5 rating in RAE2001, it was awarded a score of 2.8 on the new RAE scale in 2008, with 65% of its research activity judged ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. It is now widely recognised as one of the most important centres for the study of modern European philosophy anywhere in the English-speaking world.

The MA programmes in Philosophy at Middlesex have grown in recent years to become the largest in the UK, with 42 new students admitted in September 2009.

The Dean explained that the decision to terminate recruitment and close the programmes was ’simply financial’, and based on the fact that the University believes that it may be able to generate more revenue if it shifts its resources to other subjects – from ‘Band D’ to ‘Band C’ students.

As you may know, the University currently expects each academic unit to contribute 55% of its gross income to the central administration. As it stands (by the credit count method of calculation), Philosophy and Religious Studies contributes 53%, after the deduction of School admin costs. According to the figures for projected recruitment from admissions (with Philosophy undergraduate applications up 118% for 2010-11), if programmes had remained open, the contribution from Philosophy and Religious Studies would have risen to 59% (with Philosophy’s contribution, considered on its own, at 53%).

In a meeting with Philosophy staff, the Dean acknowledged the excellent research reputation of Philosophy at Middlesex, but said that it made no ‘measurable’ contribution to the University.

Needless to say, we very much regret this decision to terminate Philosophy, and its likely consequences for the School and our University and for the teaching of our subject in the UK.

· Professor Peter Hallward, Programme Leader for the MA programmes in
Philosophy,

· Professor Peter Osborne, Director, Centre for Research in Modern European
Philosophy,

· Dr. Stella Sandford, Director of Programmes, Philosophy

[source]

Nina Power has written an article in the Guardian commenting on the situation here: “A Blow to Philosophy, and Minorities”

Of the many ways that support for the department has materialised, there is an official website here, a Facebook group, and a petition to sign, with over 3,000 signatures and counting. There are also instructions here on how and who to write letters to the university administrators at Middlesex.

Adrian Pabst in The Guardian

Adrian Pabst has written a piece in the ‘Comment is Free’ section of The Guardian entitled ‘This pope is Romantic, not reactionary’ with a lede of ‘Catholics like Küng fail to understand the long intellectual tradition which the pope seeks to preserve and extend’. Adrian Pabst is a lecturer in politics in the University of Kent at Canterbury [Link to article]

Grandeur of Reason now available

Now available for purchase from the Veritas series is the volume: The Grandeur of Reason: Religion, Tradition and Universalism, edited by Peter M. Candler, Jr. and Conor Cunningham, with a foreword by Angelo Cardinal Scola. The essays contained in this collection arose out of the conference of the same name which took place in Rome, Italy, in 1-4 September 2008.

This volume contains essays by Stanley Hauerwas, Oliver O’Donovan, Alessandra Gerolin, John Milbank, Joan Lockwood O’Donovan, Adrian Pabst, Johannes Hoff, Richard H. Bell, Christopher Ben Simpson, Graham Ward, Cyril O’Regan, James Williams, François Laruelle, Stratford Caldecott, Tracey Rowland, Phil Gorski, Fergus Kerr, Jeff Olsen Biebighauser, Lydia Schumacher, Alison Milbank, Quentin Meillassoux, and Peter M. Candler, Jr.

Link to purchase in the U.K. | Link to purchase in the U.S.A.

Call for Papers: Theology of Creation Conference

Green as a Leaf: Renewing a Theology of Creation

Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire, 16-19 September 2010

Keynote speakers: Simon Conway Morris, Michael Northcott, John Rodwell, John Milbank, Simon Oliver, Alison Milbank, Margaret Barker

Call for Papers

Often today debates about our policy towards the environment are purely reactive to events or to the current perceived risk of climate change. In contrast, this conference jointly mounted by Southwell Minster, Southwell and Nottinghamshire Diocese, the University of Nottingham Theology Department Centre of Theology and Philosophy and Nottingham Trent University Department of Environmental Sciences brings together theologians, philosophers, scientists and cultural critics to a Norman cathedral and to the historic Brackenhurst estate in Sherwood Forest to explore the specifically theological resources that can be brought to bear on our relation to the natural world. We invite short contributions of 20 minutes on any of the following areas: theology or philosophy of nature, theology of creation, history of environmental ethics, the human relation to the natural world, local ecology and local culture, religion and folklore, different religious perspectives and particularly those of religions other than Christianity, the role of cultural productions such as poetry, music, architecture or film as theological responses or critiques, the Bible and ecology. Papers addressing Nottinghamshire itself and Sherwood Forest will also be welcomed.

Please submit a 250 word abstract of your paper to alison.milbank@nottingham.ac.uk or by post to Revd Canon Nigel Coates, The Minster Centre, Church Street, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, NG25  0HD by 1 July 2010.

Howard V. Hong dies at age 97

Howard V. Hong, Professor Emeritus at St. Olaf College and translator of Kierkegaard’s corpus (along with his late wife Edna H. Hong), died this week. He was 97.

A memorial service will be held at St. Olaf Saturday, March 27, at 11 a.m. in Boe Memorial Chapel.

• Link to news story
• Link to official announcement on St. Olaf College’s website

Edward Schillebeeckx Essay Prize

Tijdschrift voor Theologie organizes, in cooperation with the Edward Schillebeeckx Foundation, a biennial essay contest for young theologians and religious studies scholars (maximum age of contestants: 35). This prize has been named after the recently deceased theologian Edward Schillebeeckx (1914-2009), founder of the Tijdschrift voor Theologie in 1961. 2010 will be the first time this prize is awarded.

Prizes
First prize: a sum of € 1000 and publication of the essay in the Tijdschrift voor Theologie. The awarded essay will be published in the 50^th volume of the journal (in 2011).

Second prize (incentive prize): a sum of € 250 and publication of the essay on the website of the Tijdschrift voor Theologie.

The award ceremony will take place in November 2010 during a festive meeting/seminar, organized by the Edward Schillebeeckx Foundation/a special session of the editorial board of the Tijdschrift voor Theologie (form, location and time to be established by the jury).

Essay

Participants are asked to submit an essay consisting of an original academic reflection on a subject concerning the relation between religious beliefs and modern culture, from the point of view of either theology, philosophy of religion or religious studies and in an appropriately literary style. This essay or article should present an original, new view on current phenomena or issues. The reflection from the point of view of either theology, philosophy of religion or religious studies may concern one particular of several different forms of religious beliefs or outlooks on life.

The essay should have a minimum of 4000 and a maximum of 5000 words (including notes). It can be submitted in either Dutch, English, German or French. Instructions for style and formatting of the text can be found on the website of the Tijdschrift voor Theologie: http://www.tijdschriftvoortheologie.net/.

Participants
This essay contest is open to authors who are currently completing or have completed an academic education in either theology, religious studies or a related discipline and who have not reached the age of 36 on 1 July 2010. Authors do not need to have the Dutch or Flemish nationality and do not have to live in either of these countries.

Deadline
The deadline for submission is 1 July 2010.

Click here to download the full description with complete set of rules for entry.

“Did Darwin Kill God?” Guest Lecture at Swansea University

Theology Public Lecture

“Did Darwin Kill God?”

by Dr Conor Cunningham
Assistant Director of the Centre for
Theology and Philosophy at
Nottingham University

At 7.00pm on Tuesday,
9th March 2010

Faraday Lecture Theatre A,
Faraday Building, Swansea University

Everyone is welcome and admission is free.

Download the flyer here and please distribute.

Citizen Ethics in a Time of Crisis

Amongst many others, John Milbank and Rowan Williams appear as contributors in Citizen Ethics in a Time of Crisis. Please click here to read the full text.