Beyond secularism and religion: Jean-Luc Nancy on global monotheism

Known for its recent treatment of theological themes, contemporary European philosophy has been at the forefront of critical inquiry into the interface between religion and secular discourse. One of the most original philosophers within this movement is Jean-Luc Nancy, whose deconstruction of Christianity project frames an intertwining of religion and secular modernity beyond the binary opposition between theism and atheism. In this article, I tease out the hitherto under-acknowledged references to Judaism and Islam within Nancy’s project in order to lay out more clearly his philosophical vision of the contemporary landscape of secular modernity and the place of the three main monotheistic faiths within it. In doing so, I elucidate the original contribution Nancy’s philosophy can make to a rethinking of the debate between secularism and religion more broadly.