Saitya Brata Das – författare

The philosophical essays of this collection argue, each time from a singular perspective, that the task of thinking is to release the element of the unconditional from various closures, and thus to make it manifest as the true and the essential task of our individual and social existence. Naming this unconditional element as the "messianic", the book displays the profound ethico-political significance of messianic thought for our contemporary world.This book is co-published with Aakar Books, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the print versions of this book in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

At the heart of the messianic thinking lies an unconditional idea of redemption. The messianic idea of unconditionality is based upon a qualitative distinction between the unredeemed world and the world to come. It is fundamental to this messianic idea that this distinction can't be grasped as transition or mediation. Taking his inspiration from thinkers like Jacques Derrida, Emmanuel Lévinas, Walter Benjamin and Franz Rosenzweig, Saitya Brata Das renews here this task of the unconditional, the task of thinking “the advent of pure future that is always to come", unenclosed in the bounds of law or in the cages of the “worldly”. He thereby draws profound ethico-political implications from such a thought that opens up the infinitude of the future from the heart of our finitude, and shows that such thinking is the very task of our time.

At the heart of the messianic thinking lies an unconditional idea of redemption. The messianic idea of unconditionality is based upon a qualitative distinction between the unredeemed world and the world to come. It is fundamental to this messianic idea that this distinction can't be grasped as transition or mediation. Taking his inspiration from thinkers like Jacques Derrida, Emmanuel Lévinas, Walter Benjamin and Franz Rosenzweig, Saitya Brata Das renews here this task of the unconditional, the task of thinking “the advent of pure future that is always to come", unenclosed in the bounds of law or in the cages of the “worldly”. He thereby draws profound ethico-political implications from such a thought that opens up the infinitude of the future from the heart of our finitude, and shows that such thinking is the very task of our time.

Saitya Brata Das rigorously examines Schelling's theologico-political works and sets his thought against his more dominant contemporary, Hegel. Das argues that Schelling inaugurates a new thinking outside of Occidental metaphysics, by a paradoxical manner of exit, which prepares for the post-metaphysical philosophy of Martin Heidegger, Franz Rosenzweig and Jacques Derrida. This new reflection, outside of the Universal world-historical politics of modernity, is achieved by re-thinking religion as eschatology. Intervening in contemporary debates on post-secularism and the return to religion, Das shows that religion, in an essential sense, always opens up infinitude from the heart of finitude, to an irreducible outside of the profane order of worldly hegemonies. Religion here assumes a negative political theology of exception without sovereign power.

Saitya Brata Das argues that in Kierkegaard’s work we find a radical eschatological critique, not only of the liberal-humanist pathos of modernity but also the political theology of Carl Schmitt, that seeks to legitimise the sovereign power of the state by an appeal to a divine or theological foundation. Relating Kierkegaard’s notion of ‘Christianity without Christendom’ to the Schellingian eschatological critique of sovereignty, he shows how Schelling’s insistence on the eschatological difference between religion and politics is transformed and further intensified in Kierkegaard’s critique of historical reason. Such an exception without sovereignty, Das argues, is the very task of our contemporary time.

Saitya Brata Das argues that in Kierkegaard's work we find a radical eschatological critique of the liberal-humanist pathos of modernity that seeks to legitimise the sovereign power of the state by an appeal to a divine or theological foundation.Relating Kierkegaard's notion of 'Christianity without Christendom' to the Schellingian eschatological critique of sovereignty, he shows how Schelling's insistence on the eschatological difference between religion and politics is transformed and further intensified in Kierkegaard's critique of historical Reason. Das argues that such an exception without sovereignty is the crucial task of our age.

This book provides a thorough and insightful examination of melancholy in philosophy and art. Since the advent of “philosophy,” the question of melancholy has been intimately connected with creativity. In addition, melancholy has taken on a new importance in contemporary discourses. Accordingly, this book revisits the fascinating question of how melancholy and creativity are linked in light of contemporary thought, and gathers studies from diverse disciplines, such as aesthetic theories, psychoanalysis, cultural theory, medical studies and sociological studies. All the contributions are trans-disciplinary in nature and will broaden readers’ understanding of various issues stemming from the question of melancholy. This book will be an indispensable read for scholars, researchers and practitioners in psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy and related fields.

Accordingly, this book revisits the fascinating question of how melancholy and creativity are linked in light of contemporary thought, and gathers studies from diverse disciplines, such as aesthetic theories, psychoanalysis, cultural theory, medical studies and sociological studies.

This book addresses the limits of metaphysics and the question of the possibility of ethics in this context. Beyond the academic world, the book will also appeal to readers (journalists, intellectuals, social activists, etc.) for whom the question of the ethical is the decisive question of our time.

This book addresses the limits of metaphysics and the question of the possibility of ethics in this context. Beyond the academic world, the book will also appeal to readers (journalists, intellectuals, social activists, etc.) for whom the question of the ethical is the decisive question of our time.

The book based on the concept of kenosis explores the thought of a political theology as deconstruction of sovereignty. An interesting read for upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, scholars, and other intellectuals interested in philosophy of religion and philosophical theology.