Apocalyptic Political Theology

Thomas Lynch is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion at the University of Chichester, UK.

• Table of Contents: AcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsIntroduction1. Philosophy, political theology and the end of the worldWhat is political theology?What is this world that ends?Conflicts and antagonismsImagining the endQuestioning the apocalypse2. Implicit Political Theology: Reading Hegel’s Philosophy of ReligionJoachim, Hegel and the end of the worldRepresentational thought: An outline of Hegel’s philosophy of religionHegel’s implicit political theologyPhilosophy and the return to representationConclusion3. Spiritual disinvestment: Taubes, Hegel and apocalypticismAn introduction to TaubesTaubes and the apocalyptic HegelThe problem of apocalypticism and historyTaubes and BlochAnti-liberal tendencies in Hegel, Taubes and SchmittTranscendental materialist readings of Hegel: From Taubes to Malabou4. Plastic ApocalypticismMalabou, Hegel and plasticityPlastic apocalypticism: Taubes and MalabouThe problem of alterity and the rejection of the transcendentA Blochian supplementContingency and plastic apocalypticismConclusion5. Pessimism and hope in apocalyptic livingLiving with the absence of alternativesPessimism and surrenderLiving towards the end of the worldThe endBibliographyIndex

This exciting new book in the field of political theology provides a helpful reading of the often-denigrated figure of Hegel, the often-glossed figure of Taubes, and the work of Malabou—who has not—to my knowledge—been read as an aid to political theology.