The apophatic theme of the hidden God in Shestov’s and Derrida’s discussions on the gift
Journal of European Studies October 26, 2025 DOI: 10.1177/00472441251381068 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThe article compares Lev Shestov and Jacques Derrida, two thinkers who responded to Nietzsche's 'God is dead' by rethinking Judeo-Christian traditions beyond finite concepts and knowledge. Both engaged with the 'paradox of the gift' and apophatic theology's theme of the hidden God, seeking a 'mystical experience' of unknowing and 'the possibility of the impossible.' They examined human relations to God in contemporary Western culture, but Shestov's legend of the Angel of Death's gift and Derrida's analysis of gift, revelation, and death pursued different ends. This is the first known comparative reading of their ideas, situating Shestov within postmodern discourse on the gift and apophatic theology.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Philosophy |
| Key finding | Argues that Shestov and Derrida both pursued the 'mystical experience' of unknowing and 'the possibility of the impossible' in rethinking Judeo-Christian traditions, but their treatments of the gift and the apophatic theme of God had different ends. |
Abstract
Following Nietzsche’s declaration that ‘God is dead’, Lev Shestov (1866–1938) and Jacques Derrida (1930–2004) attempted to rethink Judeo-Christian theological and philosophical traditions by trying to free the relation to God from pretences of finite concepts and limitations of knowledge. In the second half of the twentieth century, the problematic discourse of the so-called ‘paradox of the gift’ became the key question of apophatic theology. The philosophers of postmodern culture related the Christian theology of the gift to the apophatic theme of the hidden and the post-Heideggerian view of God as a Being. United in their pursuit of the ‘mystical experience’ of unknowing and ‘the possibility of the impossible’, Shestov’s and Derrida’s thoughts were concerned with the state of human relations to God in contemporary Western culture. However, Shestov’s legend about the divine gift of the Angel of Death and Derrida’s analysis of the gift in relation to the phenomenon of revelation and death had different ends in mind. Situating Shestov’s ideas within the context of postmodern encounters with the gift and the apophatic theme of God, the article is the first known attempt at a comparative reading of the two thinkers’ ideas.