Posted on: September 12th, 2008 Derrida, Nihilism, and the (Post)Modern
Derrida leads to nihilism only if modern philosophy, that is the modern epistemological turn, is the only alternative.
But, alas, there is another alternative, the likes of Scotus and Descartes notwithstanding: premodern participation.
This is why John Milbanks says that modern philosophy is a detour which radical orthodoxy is trying to navigate out of. And this is also why he says that Christian theology — like Derrida — is a hair’s breadth away from nihilism.
Filed under: History / Genealogy, philosophy, political theology, Radical Orthodoxy, theology / ecclesiology