Theology And The Political

The essays in Theology and the Political-written by some of the world's foremost theologians, philosophers, and literary critics-analyze the ethics and consequences of human action. They explore the spiritual dimensions of ontology, considering the relationship between ontology and the political in light of the thought of figures ranging from Plato to Marx, Levinas to Derrida, and Augustine to Lacan. Together, the contributors challenge the belief that meaningful action is simply the successful assertion of will, that politics is ultimately reducible to "might makes right." From a variety of perspectives, they suggest that grounding human action and politics in materialist critique offers revolutionary possibilities that transcend the nihilism inherent in both contemporary liberal democratic theory and neoconservative ideology.ContributorsAnthony BakerDaniel M. Bell Jr.Phillip BlondSimon CritchleyConor CunninghamCreston DavisHent de VriesWilliam DesmondTerry EagletonRocco GanglePhilip GoodchildKarl HeftyEleanor KaufmanTom McCarthyJohn MilbankAntonio NegriCatherine PickstockPatrick Aaron RichesMary-Jane RubensteinRegina SchwartzKenneth SurinGraham WardRowan WilliamsSlavoj Zizek

Creston Davis is a doctoral candidate in philosophical theology at the University of Virginia John Milbank is a professor of religion, politics, and ethics at the University of Nottingham Slavoj Zizek is a senior researcher at the Institute for Social Studies in Ljubljana, Slovenia