Beyond The Philosopher's Fear (intersections: Continental And Analytic Philosophy)

BEYOND THE PHILOSOPHER’S FEAR Beyond the Philosopher’s Fear is I believe the first extended study published of my writing that brings to it a systematically religious perspective. I find the result heartening and productive, in two principal ways. First, this perspective allows a continuous stance from which to look back, as from its beyond, on the writing’s claims to the philosophical, to follow its intent to enter and sustain philosophy’s questioning of itself, of ourselves. Second, this perspective, in Ludger ViefhuesBailey’s scrupulous and ambitious undertaking, allows for the trajectory of half a century of writing to be taken as, let us say, one unfolding project, something always ahead of itself, unfinished, from various beginnings to various ends, perpetually – so far as talent has permitted it to be – tentative, exploratory, meditative. It joins the circle of reflections on these years of work – and extensions along the lines of it, and points of departure from it – for which I feel the clearest gratitude. Professor Emeritus Stanley Cavell, Department of Philosophy, Harvard University INTERSECTIONS: CONTINENTAL AND ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY Series Editors Stephen Mulhall, University of Oxford, UK William Blattner, Georgetown University, USA Taylor Carman, Columbia University, USA Tina Chanter In recent years, the familiar division within modern Western philosophy between what are commonly called its ‘analytical’ and its ‘Continental’ forms has been questioned from both sides of the divide. A new generation of philosophers, often benefiting from a far more pluralistic training in the history and methods of both ‘traditions’, have begun to work in ways which promise to make the terms of this traditional division irrelevant. This new series, Intersections, is intended to provide a home and a platform for the best examples of philosophical research that seeks to expound the founding texts of ‘Continental philosophy’ with all the critical tools that ‘analytical philosophy’ makes available. It also seeks to explore the unfamiliar but challenging conceptions and standards of rigorous thinking that ‘Continental philosophy’ is founded upon. The series gathers together exciting new studies from philosophers well-versed in, and sympathetic to, both ‘traditions’, presenting a cluster of titles on key topics in contemporary philosophy which move towards rendering the traditional Continental–analytic divide irrelevant. The series aims to help to hasten the demise of a profoundly damaging internal discord that is, in large part, based on mutual misunderstanding. Beyond the Philosopher’s Fear A Cavellian Reading of Gender, Origin and Religion in Modern Skepticism LUDGER H. VIEFHUES-BAILEY Yale University, USA © Ludger H. Viefhues-Bailey 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Ludger H. Viefhues-Bailey has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Gower House Croft Road Aldershot Hampshire GU11 3HR England Ashgate Publishing Company Suite 420 101 Cherry Street Burlington, VT 05401-4405 USA Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Viefhues-Bailey, Ludger H. Beyond the philosopher’s fear : a Cavellian reading of gender, origin and religion in modern skepticism. (Intersections : continental and analytic philosophy) 1. Cavell, Stanley, 1926- 2. Cavell, Stanley, 1926- Religion 3. Skepticism 4. Gender identity 5. Religion Philosophy I. Title 191 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Viefhues-Bailey, Ludger H., 1965Beyond the philosopher’