Religion et connaissance
Eric Gans
Intellectica. Revue de l'Association pour la Recherche Cognitive 2008 DOI: 10.3406/intel.2008.1228 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Derrida's notion of an "act of faith" in communication points to a universal basis for religious faith, which can be found in the Mosaic revelation's burning bush as a sacrificial scene without a victim, rather than in Christian historical revelation. |
Abstract
Religion and Knowledge. Our understanding of the contribution of religious revelation to fundamental anthropological self-consciousness is clarified by Derrida’s remark that every linguistic communication involves an “ act of faith” independent of any particular belief. But this faith is understandable only within the framework of a hypothesis that explains the origin of the human capacity to exchange representations. Although Christian anthropology most closely approaches scientific parsimony, it is dependent on a particular historical revelation. To find the universal basis of the “ secularized” faith referred to by Derrida, it is thus necessary to rediscover the element of the Mosaic revelation left aside by Christianity, namely, the possibility manifested in the burning bush of a sacrificial scene without a victim.