Immanent Transcendence: Reconfiguring Materialism in Continental Philosophy

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Over the last twenty years materialist thinkers in the continental tradition have increasingly emphasized the category of immanence. Yet the turn to immanence has not meant the wholesale rejection of the concept of transcendence, but rather its reconfiguration in immanent or materialist terms: an immanent transcendence. Through an engagement with the work of Deleuze, Irigaray and Adorno, Patrice Haynes examines how the notion of immanent transcendence can help articulate a non-reductive materialism by which to rethink politics, ethics and theology in exciting new ways. However, she argues that contrary to what some might expect, immanent accounts of matter and transcendence are ultimately unable to do justice to material finitude. Indeed, Haynes concludes by suggesting that a theistic understanding of divine transcendence offers ways to affirm fully material immanence, thus pointing towards the idea of a theological materialism.

Reviews

'In this work of rigorous philosophy and insightful scholarship, Haynes explores the heart of what is required to affirm materiality. She provides a meticulous critique of Spinoza's metaphysics and its enduring problems in Deleuze, as well as an unmasking of the reductive effects of Irigaray's emphasis on sexual difference and Adorno's emphasis on history. Yet, throughout the discussion, immanent transcendence is celebrated as the affirmation of actual material life and politics.' -- Philip Goodchild, Professor of Religion and Philosophy, University of Nottingham, UK
'Patrice Haynes moves with clarity and easethrough the complexities of 'transcendence' in the continental philosophies ofAdorno, Deleuze and Irigaray. Although transcendence has roots in ancientphilosophy, by reconfiguring materialism it comes alive in Haynes's newreadings of these difficult thinkers of twentieth-century philosophy. Whilechallenging the other-worldliness of traditional theism, Haynes does not giveup on what is best in the tradition: divine transcendence in immanence. ImmanentTranscendence is a must-read for students and professors of continentalphilosophy of religion.' -- Pamela Sue Anderson, Reader in Philosophy of Religion at the University of Oxford, UK

Author Bio

Patrice Haynes is a Lecturer in Philosophy and Ethics at Liverpool Hope University, UK. Her research interests are sited at the interface between philosophy and theology and she is a co-founder of The Association of Continental Philosophy of Religion.