Jacques Derrida teaches at the École des Hautes Études in Paris, at the University of California,
Irvine, New York University, and the New School for Social Research. He is the author of more than 30 books including
Acts of Literature and Specters of Marx, both published by Routledge. Gil Anidjar is Assistant Professor in the
Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University.
Review
"A collection of talks and lectures given by Derrida between 1990 and 1998, this book covers a variety
of topics:religion, morality, language, the limits of reason, faith and knowledge, relations between Germans and
Jews and between Jews and Arabs, war, taking a stand for Algeria, the mystical foundation of authority, and hospitality.
Beginning with an editorial introduction by Gil Anidjar (Middle East and Asian languages and cultures, Columbia
Univ.), Acts of Religion consists of eight chapters and a bibliography. It is a very significant contribution because
it enables the reader to know Derrida's personal views, opinions, values, reflections, and judgments on many topics
philosophical, religious, and humanistic....Highly recommended for graduate students and scholars of Derrida."
--R. Puligandla, emeritus, University of Toledo
"Acts of Religion is a timely book precisely because it suggests that we are, perhaps always, coming late
to religion. The essays compiled here show how questions of faith set demands upon reading that cannot be satisfied
in easy ways. The writing here, taking place in various genres, in various modes of address, compel us to rethink
fundamental issues of identity, relationality, displacement. To think and read religious questions in this way
is not to decide an identity, but to articulate the distinctions among religions and to recognize how we are defined
by an inescapable proximity with others, one that opens identity, time, and territory to critical reformulations.
Anidjar's introduction is excellent, cautioning us to read well, patiently, and without the expectation that our
usual categories will survive intact in the end."
--Judith Butler, University of California at Berkeley
"This important collection of essays traces the development of Derrida's long-standing interest in religion
into a virtual obsession. In ways difficult to calculate Derrida has become one of the most provocative 'religious'
thinkers of our time. Gil Anidjar's fine translation and remarkable introduction show not only the philosophical
and theological importance but also the social, political and even economic implications of Derrida's reflections
on religion."
--Mark C. Taylor, author of The Moment of Complexity:Emerging Network Culture and Grave Matters
Routledge Web Site, October, 2003
Summary
Is there, today," asks Jacques Derrida, "another 'question of religion'?" Derrida's writings
on religion situate and raise anew questions of tradition, faith, and sacredness and their relation to philosophy
and political culture. He has amply testified to his growing up in an Algerian Jewish, French-speaking family,
to the complex impact of a certain Christianity on his surroundings and himself, and to his being deeply affected
by religious persecution. Religion has made demands on Derrida, and, in turn, the study of religion has benefited
greatly from his extensive philosophical contributions to the field.
Acts of Religion brings together for the first time Derrida's key writings on religion, along with two new essays
translated by Gil Anidjar that appear here for the first time in any language. These texts are organized around
the secret holding of links between the personal, the political, and the theological. In these texts, Derrida's
reflections on religion span from negative theology to the limits of reason and to hospitality.
Acts of Religion will serve as an excellent introduction to Derrida's remarkable contribution to religious studies.
Table of Contents
(Dates of first publication appear below each selection. "The Eyes of LanguageThe Abyss and the Volcano"
and "Hostipitality" are published here for the first time in any language.)
1Faith and KnowledgeThe Two Sources of "Religion" at the Limits of Reason Alone (In French, 1996; in
English, 1998)
2Des Tours de Babel (In French, 1980; in English, 1985)
3Interpretations at WarKant, the Jew, the German (In French, 1989; in English, 1991)
4The Eyes of LanguageThe Abyss and the Volcano
5Force of LawThe "Mystical Foundation of Authority" (Simultaneously in French and English, 1990; complete
French version, 1994; complete English version, 2001)
6Taking a Stand for Algeria (in French, 1995; in English, 1998)
7A Silkworm of One's Own (Points of View Stitched on the Other Veil)
8Hostipitality
Bibliography
Permissions
Index
