Religion, Metaphysics, and the Postmodern WILLIAM DESMOND AND JOHN D. CAPUTO Christopher Ben Simpson Religion, Metaphysics, and the Postmodern Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion Merold Westphal, editor C H R I S TOP H E R B E N S I M P S ON Religion, Metaphysics, and the Postmodern William Desmond and John D. Caputo indiana university press Bloomington and Indianapolis This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA www.iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail
[email protected] © 2009 by Christopher Ben Simpson All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. ⬁ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for 䊊 Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Simpson, Christopher Ben, date Religion, metaphysics, and the postmodern : William Desmond and John D. Caputo / Christopher Ben Simpson. p. cm. — (Indiana series in the philosophy of religion) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-253-35367-2 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-22124-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Desmond, William, 1951– 2. Religion—Philosophy. 3. Philosophy and religion. 4. Caputo, John D. I. Title. B1626.D474S56 2009 210.92—dc22 2009015381 1 2 3 4 5 14 13 12 11 10 09 Contents Acknowledgments vii List of Abbreviations ix 1. 2. 3. 4. Introduction 1 Caputo 7 Metaphysics 23 Ethics 65 God and Religion 91 Conclusion: Divine Hyperbolics, Two Visions, Four Errors 131 Notes 135 Bibliography Index 211 209 Acknowledgments The U.S. Fulbright Program made possible the research for this work in 2003– 2004 at the Institute of Philosophy at Katholeike Universiteit Leuven. I wish to thank Tom Tanner, Karen Diefendorf, and Lincoln Christian University for enabling the completion of my work at the University of Nottingham, and Steven Cone, Renee Ryan, Michelle Knight, and Jonathan Harrison for their time and their valuable comments on sundry draft chapters. I wish to thank John Milbank for believing in me and my project—for his guidance and insightful suggestions in the latter’s completion. I am grateful to Conor Cunningham and Graham Ward for their attentive reading and the lively and pleasant exchange that helped me put the project in its finished form. I