Philosophy and theology

Emmanuel Falque and the new theological turn

Bradley Onishi

pp. 97-113

in: Bruce Ellis Benson (ed), Evil, fallenness, and finitude, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017

Abstract

Emmanuel Falque is the most original and influential member of the second generation of the "theological turn" in phenomenology. However, in divergence from the generation of Catholic phenomenologists before him, Falque does not claim his work is solely philosophical by attempting to steer clear of theological presuppositions. Rather than giving his work legitimacy by maintaining its philosophical purity, Falque argues that the most productive route for the engagement between atheism and theism, believer and non-believer, secular philosopher and confessional theologian, is to recognize the differences between them in order to understand, explore, and bring to light how they might challenge each other's assumptions. Falque is, in other words, unafraid of being labeled a Catholic thinker, whether theologian or philosopher, or of allowing his work to be explicitly shaped by theology because for him the goal is not to demonstrate the philosophical plausibility of revelation or other theological phenomena but to enable a transformative encounter between theology and philosophy that can reorient both disciplines.

Cited authors

Falque Emmanuel