(Ir)religiosity

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Seven hermeneutical influences

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It would be easy for me to rattle off a list of people who have influenced my hermeneutics from the worlds of theology and religious studies.  So I thought I would make it a bit more interesting and list several thinkers from outside the religious world (more or less) who influence my interpretation of not only the bible but literature in general.  Of course any “list” is always incomplete and unfinished.  There are many people who have indirectly influence my interpretive approach; I’m limiting this list to those that are more direct and most recent in time.  So here is my “hand” of 7 (in no particular order).

  • Jacques Derrida - for deconstruction and différance
  • Paul Ricoeur - for symbolism/myth and a hermeneutics of suspicion
  • Judith Butler - for gender/sexuality identity and social construction
  • Stanley Fish - for the importance of  interpretive communities and the downfall of foundationalism
  • Emmanuel Levinas – for “ethics as philosophy” and the presence of the Other
  • Michel Foucault – for the importance of history and power relations
  • Cornel West - for “prophetic pragmatism” and the Socratic imperative

That’s my blend at the moment.

Who are a few of your non-religious and non-theological influences?

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Written by Blake Huggins

July 22nd, 2009 at 8:00 am

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  • http://jridenour.wordpress.com/ Jeremy

    Freud – the unconscious
    Nietzsche – genealogy of morals

  • cineboy

    A big influence on my thinking has been Roland Barthes. Also, Umberto Ecco.

    My thinking was formed largely within a neo-Marxist/Feminist mass media/film studies program with heavy influences of politics, structuralism, post-structuralism, and other areas. But I also found a lot to like in E. H. Gombrich and Monroe Beardsley. In fact, I find that much of my hermeneutic is influenced by not-strictly-hermeneutic philosophical thinking, as well as sociology, etc.

  • http://jonathanstegall.com/ jonathanstegall

    Good question. For me, some thoughts:

    - J. R. R. Tolkien – fantasy, story, myth, art.. more as well, I'm sure.
    - Victor Frankl – the power of meaning and signifance, along with the mind-boggling fact that a man who endured the Holocaust could have compassion for a whining tool like me.
    - Jon Stewart / Steven Colbert / Fake Steve Jobs – the power of making fun of something that you care deeply and passionately about.
    - Chaim Potok (though he was religious, he was a fiction novelist) – the tension between art and faith, and the fact that it cannot be resolved, but can be lived in deeply and authentically.

  • http://blakehuggins.com Blake Huggins

    Nice. I think I may do a more indirect list in the future sometime. Stewart/Colbert have been a huge influence on me as well (and they keep me sane!).

  • http://jonathanstegall.com/ jonathanstegall

    Totally. But those have a lot to offer to hermeneutics, as well as indirect things :)

  • http://blog.hackingchristianity.net UMJeremy

    Star Wars.

  • Rob

    If you were to recommend one work from each of those influences as a place to start, what would they be?

  • http://blakehuggins.com Blake Huggins

    Derrida — Of Grammatology and a collection of essays titled Writing and Differance are two early works that put Derrida on the map. His corpus is massive though and I've found some of his later writings pertaining to religion (The Gift of Death, etc.) to be very insightful. John Caputo's work, most notably The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida and Deconstruction in a Nutshell, are also very lucid introductions to Derrida.

    Ricoeur — his claim to fame is the early The Symbolism of Evil in which he deals with symbolism and religious mythology. Personally, I've found his essays to be more helpful than his books. In particular the Figuring the Sacred collection.

    Butler — the only interaction I've had with her is via her first major book Gender Trouble.

    Fish — one book: Is there a Text in this Class?

    Levinas — all of his works are excellent. The two most important, I believe, are Otherwise than Being and Totality and Infinity. Time and the Other is a close third.

    Foucault — everyone has to read Discipline and Punish which is one of his most influential books. I've found The Order of Things and Madness and Civilization to be very helpful as well.

    West — really, his lectures and speeches have had the most effect on me. For books I would lift up two: Prophetic Fragments and Democracy Matters.

    Hope that helps.

  • http://blakehuggins.com Blake Huggins

    Derrida — Of Grammatology and a collection of essays titled Writing and Differance are two early works that put Derrida on the map. His corpus is massive though and I've found some of his later writings pertaining to religion (The Gift of Death, etc.) to be very insightful. John Caputo's work, most notably The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida and Deconstruction in a Nutshell, are also very lucid introductions to Derrida.

    Ricoeur — his claim to fame is the early The Symbolism of Evil in which he deals with symbolism and religious mythology. Personally, I've found his essays to be more helpful than his books. In particular the Figuring the Sacred collection.

    Butler — the only interaction I've had with her is via her first major book Gender Trouble.

    Fish — one book: Is there a Text in this Class?

    Levinas — all of his works are excellent. The two most important, I believe, are Otherwise than Being and Totality and Infinity. Time and the Other is a close third.

    Foucault — everyone has to read Discipline and Punish which is one of his most influential books. I've found The Order of Things and Madness and Civilization to be very helpful as well.

    West — really, his lectures and speeches have had the most effect on me. For books I would lift up two: Prophetic Fragments and Democracy Matters.

    Hope that helps.