God as Otherwise Than Being: Towards a Semantics of the Gift (Studies in Phenomenology & Existential Philosophy): Towards a Semantics of the Gift (Studies in Phenomenology & Existential Philosophy)

In God as Otherwise Than Being, Calvin O. Schrag - the most important American Continental philosopher of his generation - seeks a notion of God compatible with the postmodern perspective. Speaking as one of the founders of American Continental philosophy, Calvin O. Schrag offers an exceptionally clear, balanced, and informative discussion of a complex questions vexing postmodern currents of philosophical and theological Does the "death" of the god conceived as a "highest being" in Western, and especially modern, traditions open a new space within which to rethink God in terms of a "gift" or "giving" that would stand beyond the usual spate of metaphysical categories? Schrag draws with grace, ease, and precision upon the history of Western metaphysics, from Plato and Aristotle through Nietzsche and Heidegger. Most important to his central question of God as "otherwise than Being," however, are such influential post-Heideggerian thinkers as Jean-Luc Marion, Jacques Derrida, and Emmanuel Levinas. Schrag's inquiry engages these thinkers at a serious level and also expands recent discussions by relating them to the work of figures hitherto overlooked or underplayed, most notably Paul Tillich. Calvin O. Schrag. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 145-149) And Indexes.