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Department of the Study of Religions

Readings in Derrida on Religion

Course Code:
15PSRH024
Status:
Course Not Running 2013/14
Unit value:
0.5
Year of study:
Any
While Jacques Derrida’s work is most familiar literary theorists and philosophers, the importance of his thinking to questions of religion has received growing critical attention over the past decade. Derrida's writings on religion address and question many of the fundamental concepts that inform the three Abrahamic religions and their cultures. He attempts to rethink the logic of religious difference and to elucidate its significance for contemporary culture and society.

Through a close reading of his texts on religion and through analysis of core Derridean concepts such as deconstruction, différance, the metaphysics of presence, logocentrism, and supplementarity, this course will investigate the importance of Derrida's work for understanding topics such as the relation between Islam and the Judeo-Christian West; the new "wars of religion" and their implications for European modernity; the nation-state, and international law; the complex interplay of religion, economics, media, and techno-science within the processes of globalisation; the role of sexuality and the body in violent religious conflict; contemporary formulations of ‘radical evil’, and so on.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the course

The purpose of the course is to provide students with a comprehensive introduction to Derrida’s work and to his philosophy of religion.

On completion of the course students will:

  • have acquired a comprehensive understanding of Jacques Derrida's philosophical work;
  • Have gained knowledge of Derrida's perspectives and writings on religion;
  • Have reflected on the relevance of these to her or his areas of interest;
  • Be able to critically evaluate a variety of books, journals and other sources of information relevant to the topics studied on the course;
  • have produced and presented a detailed research paper on an area relevant to Derrida's work on religion and to the broader field of the philosophy of religion.

Method of assessment

Coursework: one 5,000 word essay. Assessment: essay 100%.