The Faith of the Faithless: Experiments in Political Theology

by Simon Critchley

Overview

The return to religion has perhaps become the dominant cliché of contemporary theory, which rarely offers anything more than an exaggerated echo of a political reality dominated by religious war. Somehow, the secular age seems to have been replaced by a new era, where political action flows directly from metaphysical conflict. The Faith of the Faithless asks how we might respond. Following Critchley’s Infinitely Demanding, this new book builds on its philosophical and political framework, also venturing into the questions of faith, love, religion and violence. Should we defend a version of secularism and quietly accept the slide into a form of theism—or is there another way?

From Rousseau’s politics and religion to the return to St. Paul in Taubes, Agamben and Badiou, via explorations of politics and original sin in the work of Schmitt and John Gray, Critchley examines whether there can be a faith of the faithless, a belief for unbelievers. Expanding on his debate with Slavoj Žižek, Critchley concludes with a meditation on the question of violence, and the limits of non-violence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781680704
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	02/01/2012
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	527 KB

About the Author

Simon Critchley is Hans Jonas Professor at the New School for Social Research, and a part-time professor of philosophy at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. His many books include Infinitely Demanding, Ethics–Politics–Subjectivity and, most recently, The Book of Dead Philosophers.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

Wilde Christianity 1

A Simple Enough Summary of the Argument 8

2 The Catechism of the Citizen

Why Politics Is Not Practicable without Religion and Why This Is Problematic 21

Althusser and Badiou on Rousseau 26

Why Are Political Institutions Necessary? The "Violent Reasoner" and the Problem of Motivation in Politics 28

The Being of Politics, or the Misnomer of the Social Contract 35

The General Will, Law, and the Necessity for Patriotism 41

Theatre Is Narcissism 46

The Authority of the Law 54

The Paradox of Sovereignty 59

The Problem of Civil Religion 67

Dollar Bills, Flags, and Cosmic War 78

Fictional Force: How the Many Are Governed by the Few 81

The Politics of the Supreme Fiction 90

Why Badiou Is a Rousseauist 93

3 Mystical Anarchism

Carl Schmitt: The Political, Dictatorship, and the Importance of Original Sin 103

John Gray: The Naturalization of Original Sin, Political Realism, and Passive Nihilism 109

Millenarianism 117

The Movement of the Free Spirit 121

Becoming God 124

Communistic Consequences 130

Mysticism Is Not about the Business of Fucking 136

Do Not Kill Others, Only Yourself 140

Some Perhapses: Insurrection and the Risk of Abstraction 144

The Politics of Love 151

4 You Are Not Your Own: On the Nature of Faith

Reformation 155

Paul's Address 157

Troth-Plight: Faith as Proclamation 161

Heidegger on Paul 166

Paul and Mysticism 171

Parousia and the Anti-Christ 174

As Not: Paul's Meontology 177

The Powerless Power of the Call of Conscience 183

The Null Basis-Being of a Nullity: Dasein's Double Impotence 188

Crypto-Marcionism 195

Faith and Law 203

5 Nonviolent Violence

Violent Thoughts about Slavoj Zizek 207

Violence and Nonviolence in Benjamin 213

Divine Violence and the Prohibition of Murder 217

The Resistance of That Which Has No Resistance: Violence in Levinas 221

Resistance Is Utile: Authoritarianism versus Anarchism 227

The Problem with Principled Nonviolence 237

6 Conclusion

Be It Done For You, As You Believed 247

Notes 253

Index 283

Editorial Reviews

In this thoughtful, illuminating exploration into the complex relationship between religion and politics, New School for Social Research philosophy professor Critchley (Infinitely Demanding) uses this topic to link several essays, beginning with Rousseau’s writings on government and the “social contract,” and the almost magical process by which, in a democracy, the majority of citizens believe their elected officials represent their wishes. He then analyzes the ways in which heretical mystical groups of the Middle Ages, such as the Movement of the Free Spirit, represent radical socialist and anarchist elements within mainstream Christianity, and follows with explorations of Heidegger’s thoughts on the apostle Paul and his writings, revealing that one of Christianity’s first thinkers held ideas that could be considered mystical and anarchist. Critchley concludes with an argument against fellow philosopher Slavoj Zizek, who contends that the best course of action against political oppression or tyranny is what he calls “divine violence”: simply stepping back and waiting for the situation to crumble on its own. Critchley makes the case that people must actively engage against government abuses of power to force change, even resorting to violent action if necessary. Erudite and measured, this book demonstrates the ways religion can alter the political status quo. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

[A] movingly optimistic work ... ’Everything to be true must become a religion,’ Wilde says, and Critchley, poetically and persuasively, suggests ways in which this might be accomplished.”—Stuart Kelly, The Guardian

“A a sustained and fascinating reflection on the place of religion in political discourse.”—Giles Fraser, New Statesman

“A thoughtful, illuminating exploration ... erudite and measured.”—Publisher's Weekly

“This version of a faithless faith that Simon is fleshing out in this book is a radical break in his own thinking ... in this new book Simon’s insights arrive in their most brilliant splendor: Unlike Derrida’s version of truth (and its political important) that keeps deferring and is always different, here the breakthrough happens precisely when we are able to confront our own toxic void and in the suffering of this confrontation we are able to connect with the immanent other in an act of love in the horizon of a broken embracement. Like Christ’s brokenness on the cross he opens up a way through suffering that does not cancel out the void and lack that grounds us, but unites us in the very brokenness itself.”—Creston Davis, Political Theology

“[T]he book amply demonstrates Critchley’s many strengths as a thinker and teacher. Where the book is exegetical, it is strikingly clear ... Even better, the book displays Critchley’s skill as one of the very best close readers of philosophical texts we have ... this fascinating and important book traces, as it were, a trajectory of his thought and is not an end in itself.”—Robert Eaglestone, Times Higher Education

“The Faith of the Faithless provides a powerful vision of what our politics ought to look like.”—David Winters, Los Angeles Review of Books

From the Publisher

The book amply demonstrates Critchley's many strengths as a thinker and teacher. Where the book is exegetical, it is strikingly clear ... Even better, the book displays Critchley's skill as one of the very best close readers of philosophical texts we have ... this fascinating and important book traces, as it were, a trajectory of his thought and is not an end in itself.

Robert Eaglestone - Times Higher Education

A sustained and fascinating reflection on the place of religion in political discourse.

Giles Fraser - New Statesman

The Faith of the Faithless provides a powerful vision of what our politics ought to look like.

David Winters - Los Angeles Review of Books

A movingly optimistic work ... 'Everything to be true must become a religion,' Wilde says, and Critchley, poetically and persuasively, suggests ways in which this might be accomplished.

Stuart Kelly - Guardian

The book amply demonstrates Critchley's many strengths as a thinker and teacher. Where the book is exegetical, it is strikingly clear ... Even better, the book displays Critchley's skill as one of the very best close readers of philosophical texts we have ... this fascinating and important book traces, as it were, a trajectory of his thought and is not an end in itself.— Robert Eaglestone

Times Higher Education

A sustained and fascinating reflection on the place of religion in political discourse.— Giles Fraser

New Statesman

The Faith of the Faithless provides a powerful vision of what our politics ought to look like.— David Winters

Los Angeles Review of Books

A movingly optimistic work ... 'Everything to be true must become a religion,' Wilde says, and Critchley, poetically and persuasively, suggests ways in which this might be accomplished.— Stuart Kelly

Guardian