Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Politics of Time

One of my old lectures at Middlesex University has put a book of his on-line. The Politics of Time is a fascinating read for anyone interested in modern philosophy and issues of modernity, history, temporality and politics. It seems to me that the very idea of reformational philosophy is an appeal to a certain 'politics of time' that is anti-revolutionary and anti-conservatistic.

Interestingly Peter Osborne drew a parallel between Heidegger's temporal politics and that of the reformation in an article on Heidegger's politics. This was not an appealing connection though, as Osborne argued that it was the temporal dimension of Heidegger's project - "as a revival of the openness of the present through the retrieval, beneath the de-structured tradition, of the concealed truth of a distant origin" (p.26) - that structurally tied his philosophy to National Socialism. This temporal logic is a form of "reactionary modernism" which he calls "conservative revolution" where the past is regained in order to effect radical change. This temporal logic, writes Osborne, "displays distinct affinities with the temporal-political logic of the Reformation, in which religious authority was challenged by reference to the concealed essence of an other-worldly domain (conscience), delegitimising the established Church and energising the present with a newly transcendent futurity: justification by faith alone" (p.26). I admit that my reformation history is not good enough to know just how fanciful such an explanation is, but it does not come very close to what I understand by the term "reformational"

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Prodi loses vital vote


Strange, I was watching Viva Zapetero the other day, and then checked out Freedom House's rating of Italy which has moved from "partly free" to "free" since Prodi replaced Berlusconi as Italy's prime minister. Today Prodi lost a confidence vote in the senate and it looks as though Berlusconi could be back yet again for what would be his third spell as Italy's prime minister.

Monday, January 21, 2008

A Bibliography of Bibliographies

There is loads of stuff out there for Christians seeking to honour God in all they do. The Bibliography at the end of Walsh and Middleton's The Transforming Vision (see updated version here) together with Richard Russell's book list were crucial in my early development in reformational thinking. So here I offer up a short list of links to bibliographies that others may find to be the doorway into an exciting world of following Christ in our thinking.

A Bibliography we can’t live without by Brian Walsh and Richard Middleton

Bibliographies: Important resources for Christians

Christianity and Economics: An annotated Bibliography

On Dooyeweerd by Steve Bishop

Public Justice for All: an annotated bibliography of the works of James W Skillen
1967-2006
by Bruce Wearne

Cultivating Care within a Vulnerable Economy: an annotated bibliography of the English writings of Bob Goudzwaard 1967-2007 by Bruce Wearne