Hegel's God

William Desmond is former President of the Hegel Society of America (also former President of the Metaphysical Society of America); also General Editor of the SUNY Series in Hegelian Studies. His book Being and the Between (SUNY 1995) won the Priz Cardinal Mercier, as well as the John N. Findlay Award for the Best Book in Metaphysics (1995-1997), given by the Metaphysical Society of America.

'Through decades of careful and creative scholarship, Desmond has earned the right to talk back to Hegel and bid him adieu. In calling Hegel's God an idol and in supporting this claim by pointing to what gets left out in the Aufhebung of religion in this philosophy, he gives us an important and illuminating reading of the philosophical theology that is the heart of Hegel's thought.' Merold Westphal, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Fordham University, USA 'Hegel's God represents a major critical engagement with the religious thought of Hegel by one of the most expansive and penetrating philosophers of our time. Showing knowledge of the entire span of Hegel's writings, subtlety in interpretation, lucidity, economy and elegance in writing, and real appreciation of how and why Hegel adapted and corrected the Christian view of God and his relation to the world, humanity, and history, this book in the end refuses to baptize Hegel. A beautifully realized and mature reading of Hegel, Hegel's God is at the same time a probing and constructive text in the philosophy of religion.' Cyril O'Regan, Huisking Professor in Theology, University of Notre Dame, USA '... Desmond's critique is new and important as it comes from one who has immersed himself in Hegel for over a quarter of a century, and whose own thinking about systematic metaphysics has been influenced by Hegel's dialectic.' Amos Yong, Bethel College 'Desmond's Hegel's God will thus serve us well as a frame of reference for discussions about what God might be. And this, as Hegel scholars know, is a very good thing...' Review of Metaphysics '... Hegel's God is a critical work with a difference, both in principle and in fact. On the level of principle, in eight well-crafted chapters, which manage beautifully to map thematic concerns onto a chronological reading of Hegel's reflection on God and the relation between religion and philosophy, Desmond dares a radical questioning of Hegel's thought... On the level of fact, Desmond's text represents nothing less than a final settling of accounts with a philosopher who has served for him over the years the dual role of inspiration and obstacle.' Clio '... Hegel's God is more than a mere confrontation with one of the greatest philosophers of Western civilization. It is a work on its own in the field of the philosophy of religion.' Louvain Studies

• Contents: By way of introduction: Hegel's God, transcendence and the counterfeit double; Finding a way to holistic immanence: Hegel between enlightenment, Greece and Christianity; Philosophy redoubling religion: intimacy, Agon and counterfeit reconciliations; Beyond double thinking: Hegel's speculative God; Hegel's trinity and the erotic self-doubling God; Creation and the self-doubling of Hegel's Trinity; Evil and the counterfeits of God in history; God, Spirit, and the counterfeits of religious community; On the reserves of God; Bibliography; Index.