Books in the Religion and Postmodernism series

This volume provides an analysis of Christian mysticism during the 16th and 17th centuries, along with an application of the author's transdisciplinary historiography. It aims to reveal the "mystical" aspect of postmodernism's movement of perpetual departure.

An exploration into South Asia's regional epic traditions. The author draws on his own fieldwork and analyzes how the oral tradition of the south Indian cult of the goddess Draupadi and five regional martial oral epics compare with one another and tie in with the Sanskrit epics.

Suitable for scholars and students of philosophy and religion, this title challenges a fundamental premise of traditional philosophy, theology, and metaphysics: that God, before all else, must be. It features discussions of the nature of God.

The Gift of Death, Jacques Derrida's most sustained consideration of religion, explores questions first introduced in his book Given Time about the limits of the rational and responsible that one reaches in granting or accepting death, whether by sacrifice, murder, execution, or suicide. Derrida analyzes Czech philosopher Jan Patocka's Heretical Essays in the Philosophy of History and develops and compares his ideas to the works of Heidegger, Lévinas, and Kierkegaard. One of Derrida's major works, The Gift of Death resonates with much of his earlier writing, and this highly anticipated second edition is greatly enhanced by David Wills's updated translation. This new edition also features the first-ever English translation of Derrida's Literature in Secret. In it, Derrida continues his discussion of the sacrifice of Isaac, which leads to bracing meditations on secrecy, forgiveness, literature, and democracy. He also offers a reading of Kafka's Letter to His Father and uses the story of the flood in Genesis as an embarkation point for a consideration of divine sovereignty. "An important contribution to the critical study of ethics that commends itself to philosophers, social scientists, scholars of religion . . . [and those] made curious by the controversy that so often attends Derrida."-Booklist, on the first edition

Offers an account of religion and society in nineteenth-century America. Exploring the eruptions of religion in New York's penny presses, the budding fields of anthropology and phrenology, and Moby-Dick, this book challenges the strict separation between the religious and the secular that remains integral to discussions about religion.

Reveals how the figural Jew can function as a critical mechanism that exposes the political dangers of mythic allegiance, whether couched in universalizing or particularizing terms. This title provides a consideration of Jewish identity, modern Jewish thought, and continental philosophy.

Argues that religion is more complicated than either its defenders or critics think and, indeed, is much more influential than any of us realize. This book redefines religion for our contemporary age. It presents a radical reconceptualization of religion.

Offers an opportunity to further readers understanding of Jaques Derrida's views on the key political and religious divisions of our time and an often moving testament to the power of friendship and solidarity to surmount them.

Posits that money and markets do not exist in a vacuum but grow in a cultural medium, reflecting and in turn shaping their world. This book explores the historical and psychological origins of money, the importance of religious beliefs and practices for emergence of markets, and the unexpected role of religion in the understanding of economics.

Bringing a fresh and unexpected perspective to bear on Heidegger's profoundly influential critique of modern metaphysics, the author traces a larger lineage between religious and theological discourse and continental philosophy.