The Divinity of Conscience: Forgiveness, Religion, and the Politics of Secularity in Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit by Andrew
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Divinity of Conscience: Forgiveness, Religion, and the Politics of Secularity in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit by Andrew Tebbutt A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department for the Study of Religion University of Toronto © Copyright by Andrew Tebbutt 2020 ii The Divinity of Conscience: Forgiveness, Religion, and the Politics of Secularity in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit Andrew Tebbutt, Doctor of Philosophy Department for the Study of Religion University of Toronto, 2020 Abstract This dissertation explores the intersection of forgiveness and religion in G.W.F. Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit. I argue that religion and forgiveness can be profitably understood as parallel communicative practices through which a community affirms its sense of that which has “absolute” value. Religion, as Hegel conceives of it, is a communicative practice that gives expression to the basic “terms of membership” through which individuals both affirm and are affirmed with respect to their fundamental belonging to a community. Such terms are likewise invoked in the practice of forgiveness, for Hegel, insofar as forgiveness activates a community’s infinite capacity to acknowledge and incorporate the irreducibly finite nature of human individuality and agency. In view of this similarity, Hegel’s philosophy of religion offers productive resources for theorizing religions as “socio-cultural idioms of forgiving,” and, by extension, for rethinking the nature of interreligious dialogue in the public sphere. Just as no single act of forgiveness could ever wholly or finally resolve the inherently transgressive potential of human action, so too is religious expression subject to ongoing critique and transformation, owing to the necessarily determinate and particular ways in which the idiomatic language of religion expresses “the absolute.” This “absolutely idiomatic” nature of religious discourse, I argue, offers a promising starting point for addressing the political challenge surrounding religious differences. In their intersection with the norm of forgiveness, particular religious idioms not only are exposed to the demand to forgive their religious “others,” but also (and for this reason) contain within themselves self-critical resources for the promotion of democratic ideals such as tolerance, reasoning in public, and respect for difference. iii Acknowledgments I first want to express my gratitude to the teachers and mentors who guided me to and through this project, a list of individuals that extends even farther back than my time at the University of Toronto. Shannon Hoff first ignited my interest in Hegel, and has been a model for me not only for how to read Hegel but also of what philosophy ought to be. I am grateful for Shannon’s critical and encouraging investment in my work over the years. Jim DiCenso, my advisor in the Department for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto, has been a supportive, enthusiastic, and challenging mentor and conversation partner, and has done much to make my time at the DSR enjoyable. I am grateful also for my many conversations with Willi Goetschel, who opened up new avenues for my thinking about secularism, and for Bob Gibbs’ challenging questions about the nature of forgiveness. I owe my interest in phenomenology to Rajiv Kaushik, who noticed my preoccupation with religion as young philosophy student at Brock University and turned me on to the works of Marion and Levinas. I am thankful for the ongoing mentorship and friendship of Ron Kuipers, who has continued to be a supportive dialogue partner since I completed my M.A. at the Institute for Christian Studies, and whose seminar on Ricoeur first led me to the question of the relationship between forgiveness and religion. Finally, I am especially thankful to John Russon, who helped me to develop the initial outline of this project, and whose writing and teaching continues to bring Hegel’s text to life for me. John has been a reliable guide regarding philosophy and teaching, and I am grateful for the many seminars and study groups that he has facilitated, and for our timely conversations at Holy Oak. I am also grateful to the colleagues, friends, and family members whose encouragement and support, coming at various times and in various ways, has enabled me to complete this project. Among the DSR community, I am especially thankful to Khalidah Ali, Ian Brown, Anna Cwikla, Maria Dasios, Ken Derry, Jairan Gahan, Sol Goldberg, Jennifer Harris, and Allison Murphy. Jeff Morrisey has been a challenging intellectual companion over the many years that we have been friends, and he has left his mark on this project in many ways. I am ever grateful for the friendship of Todd Dias and Mike Krause, who have offered valuable perspective and insight and have helped me stay in touch with the underlying motivations of my work. It has been a pleasure to progress through graduate school alongside my cousin Nathan Bonney, and I am thankful for our ongoing philosophical dialogue. The small community of individuals—my “Niagara friends”—who were there when I first made the decision to go to grad school has been an abiding source of encouragement, and I am grateful to them for cheering me on. I am also grateful to my family—my parents, Bob and Sharon, for their enduring support over the years, and my brother Dave, for the many times we have sipped Scotch and talked about theology between innings. Lastly, I want to express my immense gratitude to my partner Elena Young. Elena has been a constant source of care and encouragement as I completed the doctoral program and this dissertation, and I am grateful for her patience, perspective, and advice. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................ iii INTRODUCTION: FORGIVENESS AND RELIGION IN HEGEL’S PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT ......... vi CHAPTER ONE: INTERPRETATION, RECOGNITION, AND COMMUNICATION: THE UTTERANCE OF EXPERIENCE AND THE MEANING OF FORGIVENESS ................................................................... 1 1. To experience is to interpret: The non-immediacy of presence ........................................................ 4 1.1. Phenomenology as the critical self-description of experience ................................................... 4 1.2. Experience as interpretation: The self-refutation of “sense-certainty” ...................................... 9 1.3. Language and the universality of “sense-certainty” ................................................................ 14 2. To interpret is to communicate: Recognition and the non-immediacy of self-consciousness ........ 19 2.1. The life-and-death struggle and the emergence of language ................................................... 19 2.2. Language and community ........................................................................................................ 25 3. To communicate is to forgive: Conscience and the non-immediacy of meaning ........................... 29 3.1. Conscience as “absolute” selfhood in action ........................................................................... 31 3.2. Conscience and the need to be recognized .............................................................................. 39 3.3. Conscience as forgiveness ....................................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER TWO: THE APPEARANCE OF THE ABSOLUTE AND RITUAL COMMUNITY: HEGEL’S PHENOMENOLOGY OF RELIGION ..................................................................................................... 52 1. Phenomenology of religion and the question of religious experience ............................................ 54 2. Religion, language, and hermeneutics ............................................................................................ 57 2.1. Religion in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit: The appearance of “the absolute” .................. 57 2.2. Hegel and the “theological turn” .............................................................................................. 64 3. Ritual action, selfhood, and the hermeneutical significance of religion ......................................... 71 3.1 Recognition and ritual ............................................................................................................... 71 3.2. The rituals of ethical life .......................................................................................................... 76 3.3. Religion as basic ritual practice ............................................................................................... 80 CHAPTER THREE: IS FORGIVENESS A RELIGIOUS ACT? .............................................................. 87 1. Forgive and forget? ......................................................................................................................... 89 2. Forgiveness at the limit (of human initiative) ................................................................................. 91 3. The divinity of conscience: Forgiveness and religion as intersecting practices of “discerning the source” ...............................................................................................................................................