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ספר למתעניינים: Religious Violence Religion and Violence: Philosophical Perspectives from Kant to Derrida by Hent de Vries. Published by Johns Hopkins Univ Press. Guide Rating - Although it is clear that religion can play an important role in the cause or at least the intensification of violence, could religion and religious language serve a useful purpose in understanding violence and the violent tendencies in both individuals humans and human social groups? In his book "Religion and Violence," Hent de Vries argues exactly that. De Vries, Chair of Metaphysics in the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam, makes a case for the idea that religion must play a key role in understanding violence in society because violence is such an important factor in religion itself. According to de Vries, there is no religion without violence of some sort, and by the same token, there is no violence without religion of some sort. To make such an argument, de Vries defines religion very broadly - for him, "religion" is "the relationship between the self (or some selves) and the other - some Other - a relation that ...does not close itself off in a conceptual totality ...and thus at least in part escapes human autonomy, voluntary decision, and so on." Such a definition seems more appropriate to something like psychology than religion - I see little warrant for defining religion so broadly that it could encompass nearly anything and everything. Due to this wide ranging definition, however, de Vries is also able to argue that religion and religious language, especially where it involves issues of violence, is important to so many other things, in particular our understanding of our identities as individual persons and as members of society. This, in turn, can have serious implications for debates in ethics, politics, and philosophy generally. De Vries proceeds to re-examine much of modern European philosophy in light these ideas, but with a particular focus on the writings of Derrida on religion and violence. This, unfortunately, almost ensures that de Vries' book is inaccessible to most readers. Even Derrida's simplest writing is quite a bit more than the average person would be willing to invest the time and effort in, and de Vries' book isn't much different. His ideas are very interesting, his topic is fascinating, and the prospect of learning how religion and European philosophy might provide new ways of understanding violence is well worth spending some time with even a difficult book. Nevertheless, I fear that only students in more advanced university courses will have the time, background, and support necessary to really get much out of it.
ספר למתעניינים: Religious Violence Religion and Violence: Philosophical Perspectives from Kant to Derrida by Hent de Vries. Published by Johns Hopkins Univ Press. Guide Rating - Although it is clear that religion can play an important role in the cause or at least the intensification of violence, could religion and religious language serve a useful purpose in understanding violence and the violent tendencies in both individuals humans and human social groups? In his book "Religion and Violence," Hent de Vries argues exactly that. De Vries, Chair of Metaphysics in the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam, makes a case for the idea that religion must play a key role in understanding violence in society because violence is such an important factor in religion itself. According to de Vries, there is no religion without violence of some sort, and by the same token, there is no violence without religion of some sort. To make such an argument, de Vries defines religion very broadly - for him, "religion" is "the relationship between the self (or some selves) and the other - some Other - a relation that ...does not close itself off in a conceptual totality ...and thus at least in part escapes human autonomy, voluntary decision, and so on." Such a definition seems more appropriate to something like psychology than religion - I see little warrant for defining religion so broadly that it could encompass nearly anything and everything. Due to this wide ranging definition, however, de Vries is also able to argue that religion and religious language, especially where it involves issues of violence, is important to so many other things, in particular our understanding of our identities as individual persons and as members of society. This, in turn, can have serious implications for debates in ethics, politics, and philosophy generally. De Vries proceeds to re-examine much of modern European philosophy in light these ideas, but with a particular focus on the writings of Derrida on religion and violence. This, unfortunately, almost ensures that de Vries' book is inaccessible to most readers. Even Derrida's simplest writing is quite a bit more than the average person would be willing to invest the time and effort in, and de Vries' book isn't much different. His ideas are very interesting, his topic is fascinating, and the prospect of learning how religion and European philosophy might provide new ways of understanding violence is well worth spending some time with even a difficult book. Nevertheless, I fear that only students in more advanced university courses will have the time, background, and support necessary to really get much out of it.
