John Caputo 484674 225871172 2008-07-15T20:06:20Z 208.58.201.173 {{Citations missing|article|date=January 2008}} {{Infobox_Philosopher | |image_name = <!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people - see [[WP:NONFREE]] --> | <!-- Scroll down to edit this page --> <!-- Philosopher Category --> region = Western Philosophy | era = [[20th-century philosophy]] | color = #B0C4DE | <!-- Image --> <!-- Information --> name = John D. Caputo | birth = [[October 26]] [[1940]] ([[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[United States|USA]]) | school_tradition = [[Deconstruction]], [[Phenomenology]] | main_interests = [[Hermeneutics]], [[Ethics]], [[Mysticism]], [[Theology]] | influences = [[Søren Kierkegaard|Kierkegaard]], [[Friedrich Nietzsche|Nietzsche]], [[Edmund Husserl|Husserl]], [[Martin Heidegger|Heidegger]], [[Emmanuel Lévinas|Lévinas]], [[Jacques Derrida|Derrida]] | influenced = [[Richard Kearney]], [[James K.A. Smith]], [[Gianni Vattimo]], [[Merold Westphal]] | notable_ideas = a/theology, [[Weak theology#John D. Caputo on weak theology|Weak theology]] | }} '''John D. Caputo''' (born [[October 26]] [[1940]]) is the Thomas J. Watson Professor of Humanities at [[Syracuse University]] and the founder of [[weak theology#John D. Caputo on weak theology|weak theology]]. Much of Caputo's work focuses on [[hermeneutics]], [[phenomenology]], [[deconstruction]], and [[theology]]. ==Education== Caputo received his B.A. in 1962 from [[La Salle University]], his M.A. in 1964 from [[Villanova University]] and his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1968 from [[Bryn Mawr College]]. ==Work== Caputo is a specialist in contemporary [[continental philosophy]], with a particular expertise in [[phenomenology]], [[hermeneutics]], and [[deconstruction]]. Over the years he has developed a [[deconstructive]] [[hermeneutics]] he calls '''radical hermeneutics'''. Additionally, Caputo has developed a distinctive approach to religion he calls [[weak theology#John D. Caputo on weak theology|weak theology]]. Recently, his most important work has been to rebut the charges of [[relativism]] made against deconstruction by showing that deconstruction is organized around the affirmation of certain unconditional ethical and political claims. Caputo has a special interest in continental approaches to the philosophy of religion. Some of the ideas Caputo investigates in his work include the [[religion without religion]] of [[Jacques Derrida]]; the "theological turn" taken in recent French phenomenology by [[Jean-Luc Marion]] and others; the critique of [[ontotheology]]; the dialogue of contemporary philosophy with [[Augustine of Hippo]] and [[Paul of Tarsus]]; and medieval [[metaphysics]] and [[mysticism]]. In the past, Caputo has taught courses on [[Søren Kierkegaard]], [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], [[Edmund Husserl]], [[Martin Heidegger]], [[Emmanuel Lévinas]], and Jacques Derrida. Caputo's book ''The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida'' has provoked a widespread rereading of Derrida's work and has also sparked considerable interest in deconstruction in theology and religious studies. ==Positions held== Caputo was the David R. Cook Professor of Philosophy at [[Villanova University]] from 1968 to 2004. Since 2004, Caputo has been the Thomas J. Watson Professor of Humanities at [[Syracuse University]], where he teaches in both the departments of philosophy and religion. He is active in the [http://www.apa.udel.edu/apa/ American Philosophical Association], the [http://www.aarweb.org American Academy of Religion], and chairs the board of editors for the [http://www.jcrt.org Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory]. ==Selection of works== {{Main|Bibliography of John D. Caputo}} ===Books by Caputo=== *(1982) ''Heidegger and Aquinas: An Essay on Overcoming Metaphysics'' *(1986) ''The Mystical Element in Heidegger's Thought'' *(1987) ''Radical Hermeneutics: Repetition, Deconstruction and the Hermeneutic Project'' *(1992) ''Modernity and its Discontents'', with James Marsh and Merold Westphal *(1993) ''Against Ethics - Contributions to a Poetics of Obligation with Constant Reference to Deconstruction'' *(1993) ''Demythologizing Heidegger'' *(1997) ''The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida'' *(1997) ''Deconstruction in a Nutshell: A Conversation with Jacques Derrida'', ed./auth. *(2000) ''More Radical Hermeneutics: On Not Knowing Who We Are'' *(2001) ''On Religion'' *(2001) ''The Religious'' *(2001) ''Questioning God'' with Mark J. Scanlon and Mark Dooley *(2004) ''In Deference to the Other'', with Jim Kanaris and Mark J. Dooley *(2005) ''Augustine and Postmodernism: Confessions and Circumfession'' *(2006) ''Philosophy and Theology'' *(2006) ''The Weakness of God'' *(2007) ''After the Death of God'', with [[Gianni Vattimo]] *(2007) ''How to Read Kierkegaard'' *(2007) ''Transcendence and Beyond: A Postmodern Inquiry'', with Michael J. Scanlon *(2007) ''What Would Jesus Deconstruct?: The Good News of Postmodernism for the Church'' ===Books edited by Caputo=== *(1992) ''Modernity and Its Discontents'', ed. *(1993) ''Foucault and the Critique of Institutions'', ed. *(1997) ''Deconstruction in a Nutshell: A Conversation with Jacques Derrida'', ed./auth. *(1999) ''God, the Gift and Postmodernism'', ed. *(2001) ''The Religious'', ed. *(2001) ''Questioning God: Religion and Postmodernism II'', ed. *(2004) ''Augustine and Postmodernism'', ed. ===Secondary works=== *(1997) ''The Very Idea of Radical Hermeneutics'', ed. Roy Martinez *(2002) ''A Passion for the Impossible: John D. Caputo in Focus'', ed. Mark Dooley *(2002) ''Religion With/Out Religion: The Prayers and Tears of John D. Caputo'', ed. [[James Olthuis]] ===Journal articles and book chapters=== *See [[John D. Caputo Bibliography]] ==See also== *[[deconstruction]] *[[deconstruction-and-religion]] *[[list of deconstructionists]] *[[postmodern Christianity]] *[[weak theology#John D. Caputo on weak theology|weak theology]] *[[Theopoetics]] ==External links== ===Academic homepage=== *[http://religion.syr.edu/caputo.html John D. Caputo's webpage at Syracuse University] ===Online writings=== *[http://www.jcrt.org/archives/04.2/caputo.shtml "After Jacques Derrida Comes the Future"], by John D. Caputo *[http://www.jcrt.org/archives/01.3/caputo.shtml "For Love of the Things Themselves: Derrida’s Hyper-Realism"], by John D. Caputo *[http://www.jcrt.org/archives/06.1/caputo.pdf "Jacques Derrida (1930 - 2004)"] (pdf), by John D. Caputo *[http://www.philosophyandscripture.org/JohnCaputo.pdf "Scripture: A Prologue"] (pdf), by John D. Caputo *[http://www.jcrt.org/archives/04.3/caputo.pdf "Without Sovereignty, Without Being: Unconditionality, the Coming God and Derrida's Democracy to Come"] (pdf), by John D. Caputo *[http://www.crosscurrents.org/Caputo0406.pdf "Theopoetic/theopolitic"] (pdf) John D. Caputo and Catherine Keller <br /> 'Cross Currents; Winter 2007; V. 57, Iss. 1' ===Interviews=== *[http://www.jcrt.org/archives/03.2/caputo_raschke.shtml Interview with Carl Raschke] *[http://www.themodernword.com/features/interview_caputo.html Interview with The Modern World] {{DEFAULTSORT:Caputo, John D.}} [[Category:1940 births]] [[Category:American philosophers]] [[Category:Continental philosophers]] [[Category:Deconstruction]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Bryn Mawr College alumni]] [[Category:La Salle University alumni]] [[fi:John D. Caputo]]