Is a Non-Metaphysical Religious Thought Possible? - Possibility of Religious Thought Within The Scope of Heidegger's Onto-Theology Criticism -

Abstract

This article aims to treat the uniqueness of religious thought as a subject of reflection by reference to Martin Heidegger’s philosophy since his views incorporate such a deeply rooted analysis. In pursuing the subject the article inquiries into the possibility of a non-metaphysical religious mode of thought in considering Heidegger’s critique of traditional Western metaphysics, his assessments on the onto-theological and humanistic character of metaphysics, and his evaluations on the meaning of true thinking pursuant to the mode of thought he calls ontological. With regard to our assessments of religious thought, we take Heidegger’s onto-theological criticisms as a point of departure. However, considering his philosophy and manner of thinking, we try to reveal what kind of possibilities the Heideggerian view can provide us in terms of religious thinking. Therefore, it is important that our assessments of religious thought not be interpreted as identical to Heidegger’s philosophy but rather as ideas that he might have potentially incorporated into his own philosophy.

Keywords

• Religious thought
• Heidegger
• onto-theology
• metaphysical thinking
• religion
• calculative thinking
• meditative thinking
• Religious thought, Heidegger, onto-theology, metaphysical thinking, religion, calculative thinking, meditative thinking

References

1. Bertens, Hans, The Idea of the Postmodern: A History (London & New York: Routledge, 1995). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203359327
2. Bloechl, Jeffrey (ed.), The Face of the Other and the Trace of God: Essays on the Philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas (New York: Fordham University Press, 2000).
3. Hankey, Wayne, "Theoria versus Poesis: Neoplatonism and Trinitarian Dif-ference in Aquinas, John Milbank, Jean-Luc Marion and John Zizioulas," Modern Theology 15/4 (1999), 387-415. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0025.00105
4. Heidegger, Martin, Discourse on Thinking (trans. John M. Anderson and E. Hans Freund; New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1966).
5. Heidegger, Martin, Identity and Difference (translated with an intro-duction by Joan Stambaugh, New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1969); Turkish translation: Özdeşlik ve Ayrım (translated into Turkish by Necati Aça; Ankara: Bilim ve Sanat Yayınları, 1997).
6. Heidegger, Martin, "Letter on Humanism" (trans. Frank A. Capuzzi), in his Pathmarks (ed. William McNeill; Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-versity Press, 1998); Turkish translation: "'Hümanizm' Üzerine Mektup," in Ahmet Aydoğan (ed. and trans.), Hümanizmin Özü: Heidegger, Sartre, Eliot, Babbit (Istanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2002), 37-95.
7. Heidegger, Martin, "Metafiziğin Onto-teo-lojik İnşası [The Onto-theo-logical Constitution of Metaphysics]," in Ahmet Demirhan (ed. and trans. into Turkish), Heidegger ve Teoloji [Heidegger and Theology] (Is-tanbul: İnsan Yayınları, 2002), 49-71.
8. Heidegger, Martin, "Science and Reflection," in his The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays (trans. William Lovitt; New York: Garland Publishing, 1977), 155-182; Turkish translation: "Bilim ve Düşünüm," in his Bilim Üzerine İki Ders [Two Essays by Heidegger on Science] (translated into Turkish by Hakkı Hünler; Istanbul: Paradigma Yayınları, 1998), 13-44.

9. Heidegger, Martin, "The Question Concerning Technology," in his The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays (trans. William Lovitt; New York: Garland Publishing, 1977), 3-35; Turkish translation: Tekniğe İlişkin Soruşturma (translated into Turkish by Doğan Özlem; Istanbul: Paradigma Yayınları, 1998).
10. Heidegger, Martin, "The Word of Nietzsche 'God Is Dead'," in his The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays (trans. William Lovitt; New York: Garland Publishing, 1977), 53-112; Turkish translation: "Nietzsche'nin 'Tanrı Öldü' Sözü," in his Nietzsche'nin 'Tanrı Öldü' Sözü ve Dünya Resimleri Çağı (translated into Turkish by Levent Özşar; Bursa: Asa Kitabevi, 2001), 11-63.
11. Heidegger, Martin, "What is Metaphysics?" (trans. David Farrell Krell), in his Pathmarks (ed. William McNeill; Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-versity Press, 1998), 82-96; Turkish translation: Metafizik Nedir? (translated into Turkish by Yusuf Örnek; Ankara: Türkiye Felsefe Kurumu, 1991).
12. Heidegger, Martin, What is Philosophy? (translated with an introduction by William Kluback and Jean T. Wilde; Albany: New College and University Press, 1956); Turkish translation: Nedir Bu Felsefe? (translated into Turkish by Dürrin Tunç; Istanbul: Logos Yayıncılık, 1990).
13. Inwood, Michael, A Heidegger Dictionary (Maiden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1999). https://doi.org/10.1111/b.9780631190950.1999.x
14. Kalın, İbrahim, "Dinî ve Bilimsel Enstrümentalizm: Çıkmazlar, Çözüm Arayışları [Religious and Scientific Instrumentalism: Deadlocks, Seeking Solutions]," Dîvân 1/1 (1996), 107-118.
15. Kant, Immanuel, "An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?" in Lawrence E. Cahoone (ed.), From Modernism to Postmodernism: An Anthology (Maiden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1996), 51-57.
16. Küng, Hans, Does God Exist? An Answer for Today (trans. Edward Quinn; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1980).
17. Mulhall, Stephen, Heidegger ve Varlık ve Zaman [Heidegger and Being and Time] (translated into Turkish by Kaan Ökten; Istanbul: Sarmal Yayınevi, 1998).
18. Özlem, Doğan, Kültür Bilimleri ve Kültür Felsefesi [The Sciences of Culture and Philosophy of Culture] (Istanbul: Remzi Kitabevi, 1986).
19. Peacocke, John, "Heidegger ve Onto-teoloji Sorunu [Heidegger and the Problem of Onto-theology]," in Ahmet Demirhan (ed. and trans. into Turkish), Heidegger ve Teoloji [Heidegger and Theology] (Is-tanbul: İnsan Yayınları, 2002), 147-168.
20. Sallis, John, "Heidegger/Derrida and Presence," The Journal of Philoso-phy 81/10 (1984: Eighty-First Annual Meeting American Philo-sophical Association, Eastern Division), 594-601.
21. Stambaugh, Joan, "Introduction," in Heidegger, Identity and Difference (translated with an introduction by Joan Stambaugh; New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1969), 7-18.
22. Thomson, Iain D., Heidegger on Ontotheology: Technology and the Politics of Education (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005). https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511499210
23. Vattimo, Gianni, Modernliğin Sonu: Postmodern Kültürde Nihilizm ve Hermenötik [The End of Modernity: Nihilism and Hermeneutics in Post-modern Culture] (translated into Turkish by Şehabettin Yalçın; Istanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 1999).
24. Williams, John Reynold, Heidegger'in Din Felsefesi [Martin Heidegger's Phi-losophy of Religion] (translated into Turkish by Mehmet Türkeri; Izmir: İzmir İlahiyat Vakfı Yayınları, 2005).
25. Wrathall, Mark A., "Introduction: Metaphysics and Onto-Theology," in Mark A. Wrathall (ed.), Religion After Metaphysics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 1-6.https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511615399.002, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511615399