Phenomenology and the “Theological Turn," by Dominique Janicaud et al

As a philosophy graduate student in the mid-'80s at the University of Leuven, home of the archives of phenomenology's founder Edmund Husserl, I was dazzled by such courses as "Phenomenology of Mysticism"--on Teresa of Ávila. Both Jacques Derrida and Emmanuel Levinas were presences in the curriculum, and Jean-Luc Marion was emerging on the scene. In the States, however, Levinas was still a marginal voice. Derrida was widely read but considered antireligious. And Marion was virtually unknown. Though Paul Ricoeur's influence was significant, he was most often read by theologians, and his courses at the University of Chicago were offered only through the divinity school.

The situation in the U.S. has significantly changed during the past 15 years. Levinas has become a dominant figure in many disciplines; Derrida's writings have taken on a deeply moral and theological tone; and Marion has taken over Ricoeur's position at Chicago (with a joint appointment in philosophy). In short, phenomenology has become much more theological in tone.

Dominique Janicaud's essay "The Theological Turn in French Phenomenology" provides an account of this shift. The essay--literally an official "constat" (report) on the state of philosophy in France between 1975 and 1990--forms the heart of this book. The second part is composed of fine shorter essays by Jean-François Courtine, Jean-Louis Chrétien, Michel Henry, Jean-Luc Marion and Paul Ricoeur. Janicaud claims that the theological turn does not consist merely of explicitly religious voices taking part in the phenomenological dialogue. Instead, phenomenology has become dominated by theological concerns and effectively subverted, particularly by Levinas and Marion.