Revenge of the Sacred: Phenomenology and the Ends of Christianity
For a full list of all project achievements, see the project website.
Project description:
Europe is no-longer-Christian-yet-not-yet-non-Christian. In this context, we determine that the world-wide “return of religion”, when juxtaposed with the European “decline of religion” yields both challenging conflicts and promising potential. The research project “revenge of the sacred” considers the perceived, demographic transition from “Christian” to “Secular” in Europe, and the way this is reshaping the ways worldviews get expressed in contemporary society. The socially determined forms of prohibitions, holiness, unconditionals, or absolutes are metamorphosized versions of what traditionally have been referred to as “sacred.” The project addresses these matters through the following five aims: 1: to develop a philosophically oriented reassessment of the applicability of contemporary phenomenology of religion by confronting and reflecting upon the so-called “return of religion” in a socio-political context; 2: to introduce a thicker philosophical dimension to contemporary, interdisciplinary research approaches to the religion/secular debates beyond their often overly-blunt dichotomization; 3: to reflect on this still incomplete “secularization” process in regards to the inherent antinomies and “revenges” it has introduced; 4: to develop a broader historical understanding of the interrelation between philosophy and theology in order to confront contemporary social challenges; and 5: to develop an understandable framework according to which the implications and these challenges can be accessed and further pursued.