Antiphilosophy of Christianity Ghislain Deslandes

Antiphilosophy of Christianity Ghislain Deslandes Law, Economics and Humanities ESCP Business School Paris, France

ISBN 978-3-030-73282-0 ISBN 978-3-030-73283-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73283-7

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 Translation from the French language edition: Antiphilosophie du christianisme by Ghislain Deslandes, © Ovadia Publishing 2008. Published by Editions Ovadia. All Rights Reserved. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifcally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microflms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifc statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland In memory of Didier Cailleteau, Michel Piclin, Hélène Védrine, and Bernard Stiegler. Preface

If we are to look to the Gospel for the salvation of our souls, not only must we eagerly await the publication of the latest tome claiming to settle the question, as per Kierkegaard’s mis- chievous assertion, but we must also drop everything else and devote ourselves entirely to studies which would surely occupy the rest of our days, without any real hope that this vast ocean of exegetical wisdom should ever yield even the vaguest hint of an answer to the only question that matters. Michel Henry, C’est moi la vérité.

The recent debate surrounding the potential beatifcation of Blaise Pascal, that great polemicist to whom this philosophical essay is largely devoted, lends my work an air of topical relevance which I could never have dreamed of during the writing process. This book in fact represents an abridged and thoroughly updated version of a Ph.D. thesis in philosophy submitted in the early years of this millennium, which set out to identify potential avenues for refection derived from a comparative study of Pascal the Jansenist and Kierkegaard the Protestant.1 My decision to revisit this subject 15 years on may come as a surprise to some, particularly those better acquainted with my work on subjects which may seem very far removed from the question of religious faith, namely leadership2 and media studies.3 Although this is perhaps the mark of an approach to philosophy which is adventurous rather than territorial, roaming to explore new contexts and situations, often non-philosophical in nature. The religion in question, in the Pascalian and Kierkegaardian context, is of course Christianity: the religion of the word, of the cross, of “folly.” You might say that my two chosen authors were drawn to religion by a sort of natural inclination.

1 At Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. 2 A subject which greatly interested Pascal, nonetheless. He considered the education dispensed to the elite as a key question of philosophy (cf. the Discourses on the Condition of the Great and Laf. 533). 3 Essentially the subject that Kierkegaard envisaged teaching at the university (cf. Dialectic of ethical and ethical-religious communication, volume 14), before changing his mind.

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As a result, they were faced with a familiar problem: how can philosophy and Christianity coexist if, as Maurice Merleau-Ponty puts it, the former “is a self- suffcient activity, which begins and ends with comprehension of a concept,” while the latter requires “assent to things which cannot be seen, but are established as articles of belief by the revealed texts”? Is the gulf between the two not so vast as to preclude any genuine contrast or relationship? And yet it is precisely this problem- atic relationship which lies at the heart of the Pascalian and Kierkegaardian thoughts, considering philosophy to be as effective as it is affective. By this measure philosophical refection is not a quest for truth, but rather a search for a certain form of sincerity in our relationship to the truth. For Pascal and Kierkegaard, philosophy necessarily involves a subjective angle which precludes any objective claim to truth. This is a particular position in the history of ideas, and one which I seek to contex- tualise as precisely as possible in these pages. Following the example of Alain Badiou, among others, I defne it as antiphilosophy. While philosophy openly sets out to “harm stupidity,” as Deleuze would have it, antiphilosophy is more concerned with combatting philosophical stupidity. The latter is never so apparent, in the opinion of Pascal and Kierkegaard, as when philosophy attempts to get to grips with the event of Christianity, and often ends up with a defnition dialectically opposed to what Christianity itself claims to be. Should it really come as any surprise that philosophical reason maintains a certain distance with its stated enemy? Surely the speculating being is a constant obstacle to the Christian becoming. Subjecting faith to the perils of philosophical analysis while simultaneously confronting the philosophical tradition with the truth of Christianity, occupying the shifting middle ground between the two, such is the ambitious goal of an antiphilosophy of Christianity.

Paris, France Ghislain Deslandes Contents

1 Introduction: The Pascal of the North, the French Kierkegaard �� 1 Christian Philosophers or Philosophical Christians? �� 7 Pascal, Kierkegaard and Antiphilosophy �� 14 General Outline for an Antiphilosophy of Christianity �� 20 2 Mocking Philosophy �� 23 A Philosophical Critique of Reason �� 23 Facing the Philosophers �� 29 A Popular Way of Thinking �� 37 Antiphilosophical Writing and Singularity �� 42 Adam Forma Futuri �� 47 3 “Risk Is truth” �� 53 Denaturing �� 53 Betting for or Against �� 54 Stupidifcation �� 57 Faith Which Believes in God �� 59 Alone Against the World, Alone Before God �� 65 Suffering as Natural State �� 69 4 “Hear God” �� 75 First Statement: “The External Is of No Use Without the Internal” �� 77 Second Statement: “You Have Deposed the Pope... and Set ‘the Public’ on the Throne” �� 85 Third Statement: “Forget the World and Everything Except God” �� 93 Fourth Statement: Deus absconditus �� 98 Fifth Statement: “Deny, If You Will, That Christianity Is a Paradox!” . . 100

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5 Contemporary Connections �� 105 The Christian Event �� 106 Towards a “Weak Antitheology”? �� 112 Recharging Immanence �� 120

Conclusion: Post-Jansenist Meditations �� 125 Bibliography �� 135

Index �� 141