‘Phenomenology and Theology Make Two’: A Seminar on the Occasion of the 30th Anniversary of Dominique Janicaud’s ‘Tournant théologique’

May 19, 2021
Catholic University of Paris

Paris
France

Organisers:

Oxford University

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‘Phenomenology and Theology Make Two’

A Seminar on the Occasion of the 30th Anniversary of Dominique Janicaud’s ‘Tournant théologique’

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the publication of Dominique Janicaud’s Le Tournant théologique de la phénoménologie française in 1991, followed up by La phénoménologie éclatée in 1998. In the original book, Janicaud observed with concern that French phenomenology had taken a ‘theological turn’: as opposed to the atheistic phenomenology of Jean-Paul Sartre and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, phenomenologists like Emmanuel Levinas, Michel Henry, Jean-Luc Marion and Jean-Louis Chrétien had begun privileging experiences that exceeded the horizon of finitude. This, Janicaud insisted, amounts to a betrayal of the phenomenological method and a violation of the fundamental category of finitude; for him, ‘phenomenology and theology make two’, not one.

Despite their stern criticisms, Janicaud’s books by no means put an end to the development they diagnosed. Works by key figures in the theological turn continued to be published in the decades that followed. However, a later generation of phenomenologists, like Emmanuel Falque and Claude Romano, have taken Janicaud’s critical engagement with the ‘excesses’ of theologically motivated phenomenology to heart. Each in their own way challenges the limits of excessive phenomena, calling phenomenology back to the question of finitude and making evident the limits of phenomenological inquiry. In this seminar, we will discuss how phenomenology has changed since the publication of Janicaud’s books: What is the significance of Janicaud’s Tournant théologique for philosophy and phenomenology today? How has the field evolved since its publication? What does it mean to say that ‘phenomenology and theology make two’? 

14.00-15.00       The Politics of the Theological Turn

Jacob Benjamins (KU Leuven/Australian Catholic University), response by Joseph Rivera (Dublin City University)

15.00-16.00       It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Away: Third Way Responses to Janicaud

Amber Bowen (Redeemer University), response by Tamsin Jones (Trinity College)

16.00-16.30       Break

16.30-17.30       Apriority and Alterity: Phenomenology’s ‘Theological Turn’ and the Crisis of   Instrumental Reason

Kristóf Oltvai (University of Chicago), response by Emmanuel Falque (Catholic University of Paris)

17.30-18.00       Roundtable discussion

Date and time:            Wednesday 19 May, 14.00-18.00 (Paris time)

Location:                     Zoom

Registration and Zoom-link: 

https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYrd-qgpjkvHtVr5BpS8ymojNeBRbpgiGl_. 

If you have any questions, please contact Nikolaas Deketelaere ([email protected]) or Andrew Sackin-Poll ([email protected]). 

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