Ontotheology
Encyclopedia
Ontotheology means the ontology
of God and/or the theology of being
. It refers to a tradition of philosophical theology first prominent among medieval scholastics, notably Duns Scotus
. In some usages, the term has been taken to refer to Western metaphysics in general.
, "in order to distinguish between two competing types of 'transcendental theology
'." The word's origin is often, mistakenly perhaps, associated with Heidegger who used the term quite frequently.
At the broadest level Kant had distinguished two general types of theology: that which comes from reason and that of revelation. Within the category of reasoned theology he distinguished two further types, "natural theology" and "transcendental theology". Within natural theology, Kant differentiated between "physico-theology" and an ethical or moral theology. Transcendental theology or reasoned-based theology, he divided into ontotheology and cosmotheology.
Ontotheology, according to Kant (as interpreted by Iain Thomson), "was the type of transcendental theology characteristic of Anselm of Canterbury
's ontological argument
which believes it can know the existence of an [original being, Urwesen] through mere concepts, without the help of any experience whatsoever". Kant himself defined the relationship between ontotheology and cosmostheology as follows: "Transcendental theology aims either at inferring the existence of a Supreme Being from a general experience, without any closer reference to the world to which this experience belongs, and in this case it is called cosmotheology; or it endeavours to cognize the existence of such a being, through mere conceptions, without the aid of experience, and is then termed ontotheology."
Kant thus distinguishes between rationally-oriented (ontotheological) and empirically-oriented (cosmotheological) discussion. Consistently with Kant's definition, philosophical and theological writers sometimes use the words "ontotheology" or "ontotheological" to refer to the metaphysical
or theological views characteristic of many rationalist
philosophers. Heidegger, discussed below, later argued for a broader definition of the word ontotheology.
, ontotheology took on quite a different meaning; for him, ontotheology is fundamentally the same as all metaphysics
. This he argues in Being and Time
, his later essay on "The End of Metaphysics," and in his most systematic treatment of the problem of ontotheology "Identity and Difference."
For Heidegger ontotheology contributes to the oblivion or forgetfulness of Being. Indeed "metaphysics is onto-theo-logy," and Western metaphysics "since the beginning with the Greeks has eminently been both ontology and theology." The problem with this intermixing of ontology and theology according to Heidegger's analysis, and the reason why Heidegger and his successors sought to overcome it, is at least twofold.
First, by linking the philosophical with the theological, and vice versa, the distinctiveness of each respective discourse is clouded over. As such, the nature of philosophy as a factually unknown and structurally unknowable path of thought is restricted by an economy of faith. Likewise with theology, as the science of faith, theology at its best testifies to the irreducible mystery of its source in revelation and to the unapproachable and incomprehensible aim of its desire in God. However, once theology becomes onto-theological that mysterious source and incomprehensible aim are reduced to the order of beings.
Second, and on a more fundamental level, the ontotheological problem is part and parcel of the overall degeneration of Western thought and the consequent troubles of Western technological culture. The problem in a nutshell is the human desire for mastery and ontotheology contributes to this by presuming knowledge regarding the "first cause" of philosophy and the "highest being" of theology.
With regard to the latter, which takes its cue from Jacques Derrida
’s statement that, with or without the word being
, Heidegger
wrote a theology with and without God. He did what he said it would be necessary to avoid doing. He said, wrote, and allowed to be written exactly what he said he wanted to avoid.
Indeed, Heidegger was careful to claim that his work was philosophical and not theological, and argued that a Christian philosophy or a phenomenological theology was an absurdity likened to a Protestant mathematics. However, through a certain reading by Derrida, Heidegger's sustained and comprehensive critique or "destructuring" of the Western philosophical tradition can be understood as also having some theological implications.
Based upon this perspective, ontotheology is not so much a problem to be overcome as it is an inevitability of thought that is impossible to be avoided and that conditions all human inquiry, whether theological or philosophical in nature, or whether religious or secular in orientation. Yet Derrida claims in his essay différance
that différance both exceeds and inscribes ontotheology.
With regard to theology
, a number of Christian theologians, such as Brian Ingraffia, Merold Westphal, and Jean-Luc Marion
have argued that a genuine biblical theology of revelation escapes the problem of ontotheology by giving priority to a specifically theological language as disclosed through scripture and as passed down through tradition. According to this perspective, the God of the Bible is fundamentally different from the God of philosophy, and thus, while the ontotheological problem sometimes eventuates in the pronouncement of the death of the moral-metaphysical God, this means little or nothing to the biblical portrait of the God of history who inspires and empowers the community of the faithful.
Thus many concepts have been considered to be the ultimate or absolute entity beneath all reality: Form, substance
, essence
, soul
, geist
or spirit/mind, extension, God
, monad
s and can also be considered in some way as ontotheological in their reliance upon the metaphysics of presence
.
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
of God and/or the theology of being
Being
Being , is an English word used for conceptualizing subjective and objective aspects of reality, including those fundamental to the self —related to and somewhat interchangeable with terms like "existence" and "living".In its objective usage —as in "a being," or "[a] human being" —it...
. It refers to a tradition of philosophical theology first prominent among medieval scholastics, notably Duns Scotus
Duns Scotus
Blessed John Duns Scotus, O.F.M. was one of the more important theologians and philosophers of the High Middle Ages. He was nicknamed Doctor Subtilis for his penetrating and subtle manner of thought....
. In some usages, the term has been taken to refer to Western metaphysics in general.
Kant
The term "ontotheology" was coined by Immanuel Kant in direct conjunction with the term cosmotheologyCosmotheology
The term cosmotheology, along with the term "ontotheology", was coined by Immanuel Kant "in order to distinguish between two competing types of "transcendental theology"Kant defined the relationship between ontotheology and cosmostheology as follows:...
, "in order to distinguish between two competing types of 'transcendental theology
Transcendental theology
Transcendental theology is a term coined by Immanuel Kant to describe a method of discerning theological concepts. Kantdivided transcendental theology into "ontotheology" and "cosmotheology", both of which he also coined, "in order to distinguish between two competing types of 'transcendental...
'." The word's origin is often, mistakenly perhaps, associated with Heidegger who used the term quite frequently.
At the broadest level Kant had distinguished two general types of theology: that which comes from reason and that of revelation. Within the category of reasoned theology he distinguished two further types, "natural theology" and "transcendental theology". Within natural theology, Kant differentiated between "physico-theology" and an ethical or moral theology. Transcendental theology or reasoned-based theology, he divided into ontotheology and cosmotheology.
Ontotheology, according to Kant (as interpreted by Iain Thomson), "was the type of transcendental theology characteristic of Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
's ontological argument
Ontological argument
The ontological argument for the existence of God is an a priori argument for the existence of God. The ontological argument was first proposed by the eleventh-century monk Anselm of Canterbury, who defined God as the greatest possible being we can conceive...
which believes it can know the existence of an [original being, Urwesen] through mere concepts, without the help of any experience whatsoever". Kant himself defined the relationship between ontotheology and cosmostheology as follows: "Transcendental theology aims either at inferring the existence of a Supreme Being from a general experience, without any closer reference to the world to which this experience belongs, and in this case it is called cosmotheology; or it endeavours to cognize the existence of such a being, through mere conceptions, without the aid of experience, and is then termed ontotheology."
Kant thus distinguishes between rationally-oriented (ontotheological) and empirically-oriented (cosmotheological) discussion. Consistently with Kant's definition, philosophical and theological writers sometimes use the words "ontotheology" or "ontotheological" to refer to the metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
or theological views characteristic of many rationalist
Rationalism
In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...
philosophers. Heidegger, discussed below, later argued for a broader definition of the word ontotheology.
Heidegger
For Martin HeideggerMartin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
, ontotheology took on quite a different meaning; for him, ontotheology is fundamentally the same as all metaphysics
Metaphysics of presence
The concept of the metaphysics of presence is an important consideration within the area of deconstruction. The deconstructive interpretation holds that the entire history of Western philosophy and its language and traditions has emphasized the desire for immediate access to meaning, and thus built...
. This he argues in Being and Time
Being and Time
Being and Time is a book by the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Although written quickly, and despite the fact that Heidegger never completed the project outlined in the introduction, it remains his most important work and has profoundly influenced 20th-century philosophy, particularly...
, his later essay on "The End of Metaphysics," and in his most systematic treatment of the problem of ontotheology "Identity and Difference."
For Heidegger ontotheology contributes to the oblivion or forgetfulness of Being. Indeed "metaphysics is onto-theo-logy," and Western metaphysics "since the beginning with the Greeks has eminently been both ontology and theology." The problem with this intermixing of ontology and theology according to Heidegger's analysis, and the reason why Heidegger and his successors sought to overcome it, is at least twofold.
First, by linking the philosophical with the theological, and vice versa, the distinctiveness of each respective discourse is clouded over. As such, the nature of philosophy as a factually unknown and structurally unknowable path of thought is restricted by an economy of faith. Likewise with theology, as the science of faith, theology at its best testifies to the irreducible mystery of its source in revelation and to the unapproachable and incomprehensible aim of its desire in God. However, once theology becomes onto-theological that mysterious source and incomprehensible aim are reduced to the order of beings.
Second, and on a more fundamental level, the ontotheological problem is part and parcel of the overall degeneration of Western thought and the consequent troubles of Western technological culture. The problem in a nutshell is the human desire for mastery and ontotheology contributes to this by presuming knowledge regarding the "first cause" of philosophy and the "highest being" of theology.
Contemporary writers
Contemporary scholarship on ontotheology is divided between those who accept Heidegger’s analysis of the problem of ontotheology and continue his efforts at “overcoming ontotheology,” and those who are rethinking Heidegger's view and thus re-imagining the relationship between philosophy and theology and reconfiguring the conditions for philosophical theology.With regard to the latter, which takes its cue from Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher, born in French Algeria. He developed the critical theory known as deconstruction and his work has been labeled as post-structuralism and associated with postmodern philosophy...
’s statement that, with or without the word being
Being
Being , is an English word used for conceptualizing subjective and objective aspects of reality, including those fundamental to the self —related to and somewhat interchangeable with terms like "existence" and "living".In its objective usage —as in "a being," or "[a] human being" —it...
, Heidegger
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
wrote a theology with and without God. He did what he said it would be necessary to avoid doing. He said, wrote, and allowed to be written exactly what he said he wanted to avoid.
Indeed, Heidegger was careful to claim that his work was philosophical and not theological, and argued that a Christian philosophy or a phenomenological theology was an absurdity likened to a Protestant mathematics. However, through a certain reading by Derrida, Heidegger's sustained and comprehensive critique or "destructuring" of the Western philosophical tradition can be understood as also having some theological implications.
Based upon this perspective, ontotheology is not so much a problem to be overcome as it is an inevitability of thought that is impossible to be avoided and that conditions all human inquiry, whether theological or philosophical in nature, or whether religious or secular in orientation. Yet Derrida claims in his essay différance
Différance
Différance - French term coined by Jacques Derrida and homophonous with the word "différence". Différance plays on the fact that the French word différer means both "to defer" and "to differ." Derrida first uses the term différance in his 1963 paper "Cogito et histoire de la folie"...
that différance both exceeds and inscribes ontotheology.
With regard to theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, a number of Christian theologians, such as Brian Ingraffia, Merold Westphal, and Jean-Luc Marion
Jean-Luc Marion
Jean-Luc Marion is among the best-known living philosophers in France, former student of Jacques Derrida and one of the leading Catholic thinkers of modern times. Marion's take on the postmodern is informed by his expertise in patristic and mystical theology, phenomenology, and modern philosophy...
have argued that a genuine biblical theology of revelation escapes the problem of ontotheology by giving priority to a specifically theological language as disclosed through scripture and as passed down through tradition. According to this perspective, the God of the Bible is fundamentally different from the God of philosophy, and thus, while the ontotheological problem sometimes eventuates in the pronouncement of the death of the moral-metaphysical God, this means little or nothing to the biblical portrait of the God of history who inspires and empowers the community of the faithful.
Thus many concepts have been considered to be the ultimate or absolute entity beneath all reality: Form, substance
Substance theory
Substance theory, or substance attribute theory, is an ontological theory about objecthood, positing that a substance is distinct from its properties. A thing-in-itself is a property-bearer that must be distinguished from the properties it bears....
, essence
Essence
In philosophy, essence is the attribute or set of attributes that make an object or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity. Essence is contrasted with accident: a property that the object or substance has contingently, without...
, soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
, geist
Geist
Geist is a German word. Depending on context it can be translated as the English words mind, spirit, or ghost, covering the semantic field of these three English nouns...
or spirit/mind, extension, God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, monad
Monad
-Philosophy:*Monad a term meaning "unit" used variously by ancient philosophers from the Pythagoreans to Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus to signify a variety of entities from a genus to God....
s and can also be considered in some way as ontotheological in their reliance upon the metaphysics of presence
Metaphysics of presence
The concept of the metaphysics of presence is an important consideration within the area of deconstruction. The deconstructive interpretation holds that the entire history of Western philosophy and its language and traditions has emphasized the desire for immediate access to meaning, and thus built...
.
-
- One can delimit such a closure [of metaphysics] today only by soliciting the value of presence that Heidegger has shown to be the ontotheological determination of Being;...Derrida
Selected writings
- Dombrowski, Daniel A., "Deconstruction and the Ontological Argument", American Journal of Philosophy and Theology, Vol.21, No.1, p. 3ff (January 2000) http://ajtp.iusb.edu/Back%20Issues/january2004completeissue.pdf (caution: 448kB .pdf file, full issue of Journal)
- Heidegger, Martin: Identity and Difference
- Ingraffia, B.: Vanquishing God’s Shadow: Postmodern Theory, Ontotheology, and Biblical Theology
- Jaran, F.: "L'onto-théologie dans l'oeuvre de Martin Heidegger. Récit d'une confrontation avec la pensée occidentale", Philosophie, numéro 91, automne 2006, pp. 37-62.
- Marion, J. L.: God without Being: Hors-Texte
- Robbins, Jeffrey W., "The Problem of Ontotheology: Complicating the Divide Between Philosophy and Theology", The Heythrop Journal, Volume 43, p. 139 (April 2002). Abstract available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1468-2265.00188 .
- Robbins, J. W.: Between Faith and Thought: An Essay on the Ontotheological Condition
- Ruf, H.: Religion, Ontotheology, and Deconstruction; M. Westphal, Toward a Postmodern Christian Faith: Overcoming onto-Theology.
- Thomson, Iain (2005): Heidegger on Ontotheology: Technology and the Politics of Education, Cambridge University Press., excerpt available at http://assets.cambridge.org/052185/1157/excerpt/0521851157_excerpt.pdf (.pdf file)