Dante And Derrida: Face To Face (suny Series In Theology And Continental Thought)

"Discusses Derrida as a religious thinker, reading Dante's Commedia and Derrida's religious writings together. Reading Dante's Commedia alongside Jacques Derrida's later religious writings, Francis J. Ambrosio explores what these works reveal about religion as a fundamental dynamic of human existence, about freedom and responsibility, and about the significance of writing itself. Ambrosio argues that both the many telling differences between them and the powerful bonds that unite them across centuries show that Dante and Derrida share an identity as religious writers that arises from the human experiences of faith, hope, and love in response to the divine mystery of being human. For both Dante and Derrida, Ambrosio contends, "scriptural religion" reveals that the paradoxical tension of freedom and absolute responsibility must lead to the mystery of forgiveness, a secret that these two share and faithfully keep by surrendering to its necessity to die so as always to begin again anew. Francis J. Ambrosio is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University and the editor of The Question of Christian Philosophy Today."--EBSCO DANTE AND DERRIDA 4 Contents 8 On the Pre-text or As a Pre-face 10 Acknowledgments 14 List of Abbreviations 16 Introduction 18 1. Vita Nuova: The Promise of Writing 32 THE SECRET OF BEGINNING: A PARABLE 32 THE PROMISE OF A NEW LIFE 34 TRANSCRIBING THE PROMISE OF A NEW LIFE 55 2. Inferno: The Aporia of Forgiveness 68 WRITING IN EXI LE 70 “ I DESIRE MERCY, NOT SACRIFICE. ” 90 3. Purgatorio: Re-turning to the Scene of Forgiveness 134 ACCEPTING FORGIVENESS: SEEING IN SECRET THROUGH THE EYES OF THE OTHER (WOMAN) 135 FORGIVING GIVES GIVING: PASSING ON THE SECRET 152 4. Paradiso: Turning Tears into Smiles 176 ENJOYING FORGIVENESS: THE FREEDOM OF LOVE 177 DANTE’ S PORTRAIT GALLERY 190 Conclusion: In Memoriam: A Smile in Passing . . . 230 Notes 246 Index 256 A 256 B 256 C 256 D 256 E 256 F 256 G 256 H 256 I 257 J 257 K 257 L 257 M 257 N 257 P 257 R 257 S 257 T 257 U 257 V 257