METAMORPHOSES of Chrisanity in Literature, Art and Philosophy

Willie van der Merwe and Laurens ten Kate invite you to the twelh Metamorphoses-seminar:

The Force of God: Toward a New Relationship between Democracy and Religious Imaginaries

A Seminar with Carl Raschke and Kurt Appel

• Information and Program: see other side

• 1st of December 2015, 10:00 -17:00

• Venue: University of Humanistic Studies Kromme Nieuwegracht 29, Utrecht. Room 1.15

• Participation is free but limited • Please register to: [email protected]

The project Metamorphoses… Carl A. Raschke (le) is professor of Religious • is an iniave of Willie van der Merwe (professor of Studies at the University of Denver. He is , VU University Amsterdam) and of specialized in connental philosophy and the Laurens ten Kate (professor of Liberal Religion and theory of religion. He is an internaonally known Humanism, University of Humanisc Studies Utrecht) writer and academic on Chrisanity, globalizaon, • a ims to offer an interdisciplinary research context for world religions and contemporary art. philosophers, theologians, art historians and literary Kurt Appel is professor of systemac and theorists fundamental at the University of Vienna, • aims to enter a dialogue with contemporary arsts and and director of the Research plaorm ‘Religion and writers Transformaon in Contemporary European • b y establishing a plaorm for exploraon and creaon Society’. His research focuses on the social-polical • in a series of seminars, debates, lectures and meaning of theology and on the development of a performances new humanism. English spoken The background to and inspiraon of this twelh Metamorphoses seminar will be Carl Raschke’s recent book, The Force of God: Polical Theology and the Crisis of Liberal Democracy (Columbia University Press 2015). Raschke es democracy’s retreat to the West’s failure to confront its decadence and mobilize its vast spiritual resources. Drawing on the thought of Hegel and Nietzsche as well as recent work by , , Jean-Joseph Goux, Giorgio Agamben, and Alain Badiou, Raschke aims to recast a polical theology for the 21st century, grounded in a powerful, hidden impetus that Raschke coins as the ‘force of God’. This enables him to frame a new value economy and a crical theory that acknowledges a vital, spiritually grounded relaonship between polics and the religious imaginaries of determining our past and present.

Starng from the themes and crique developed in the book as presented and discussed by the author in his opening lecture, Kurt Appel in his lecture will engage in a broader analysis of the mutual metamorphoses between religion and present day democrac sociees.

Aer both lectures there will be ample room for exchange, discussion and exploraon of the possibility for future collaboraon.

Program

10:00 - 10:15 Welcome (Coffee, Tea)

10:15 – 10:30: Introducon by Willie van der Merwe and Laurens ten Kate

11:00 – 13.00: The Force of God, presentaon of the book by Carl Raschke, followed by discussion

13.00 – 14:00: Lunch

14:00 – 15:30 Religion and the Metamorphoses of Society, by Kurt Appel, followed by discussion

15:30 – 15:45: Coffee/tea

15:45 – 17:00: Conclusions and perspecves for future collaboraon.

This Metamorphoses-seminar has been organized with the financial support of the VU Research Instute CLUE+