Heidegger's confessions : the remains of Saint Augustine in being and time and beyond

323 Pages·2015·1.753 MB·English

by  Saint Bishop of Hippo. Augustine, Coyne, Ryan, Heidegger, Martin

Heidegger’s Confessions
RELIGION AND POSTMODERNISM
A series edited by Thomas A. Carlson
RECENT BOOKS IN THE SERIES
Arts of Wonder: Enchanting Secularity— Walter De Maria,
Diller + Scofi dio, James Turrell, Andy Goldsworthy,
by Jeffrey L. Kosky (2012)
God without Being: Hors- Texte, Second Edition,
by Jean- Luc Marion (2012)
Secularism in Antebellum America,
by John Lardas Modern (2011)
The Figural Jew: Politics and Identity in Postwar French Thought,
by Sarah Hammerschlag (2010)
The Indiscrete Image: Infi nitude and Creation of the Human,
by Thomas A. Carlson (2008)
Heidegger’s Confessions
The Remains of Saint Augustine in
Being and Time and Beyond
Ryan Coyne
The University of Chicago Press
chicago and london
ryan coyne is assistant professor of the philosophy of religions and theology at
the University of Chicago Divinity School.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2015 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2015.
Printed in the United States of America
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 20930-2 (cloth)
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 20944-9 (e-b ook)
doi: 10.7208/chicago/9780226209449.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging- in-P ublication Data
Coyne, Ryan, author.
Heidegger’s confessions : the remains of Saint Augustine in Being and Time
and beyond / Ryan Coyne.
pages cm — (Religion and postmodernism)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0 - 226- 20930-2 (cloth : alkaline paper) — isbn 0- 226- 20930- x (cloth :
alkaline paper) — isbn 978- 0- 226- 20944-9 (e-b ook) — isbn 0- 226- 20944- x
(e-b ook) 1. Heidegger, Martin, 1889– 1976. 2. Augustine, Saint, Bishop
of Hippo. 3. Philosophy and religion. I. Title. II. Series: Religion and
postmodernism.
b3279.h49c696 2015
193—d c23
2014031387
This paper meets the requirements of ansi/niso z39.48- 1992 (Permanence of
Paper).
For Sarah and Lila

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Heidegger’s Paul 17
2. The Cogito Out- of- Reach 53
3. The Remains of Christian Theology 87
4. Testimony and the Irretrievable in Being and Time 124
5. Temporality and Transformation, or
Augustine through the Turn 157
6. On Retraction 194
Conclusion: Difference and De- Theologization 229
Notes 243
Selected Bibliography 279
Index 297
vii

Acknowledgments
“What do you have that you have not received?” Augustine often
quoted 1 Corinthians 4:7 as a reminder that while his faults were
his own, what he accomplished he owed to the grace of others. Writing
this book I have felt similarly about those who have sustained me along
the way.
A fateful conversation with Jean- Luc Marion, on the corner of Dorches-
ter and 59th Street in Chicago’s Hyde Park, gave rise to this project. From
that moment he has affirmed its development in countless ways. David
Tracy’s incomparable wisdom and openness continue to inspire me. He
teaches by word and deed. For the better part of a decade, in two different
institutional settings, I had the honor to study with Amy Hollywood, an
exemplary scholar and a tireless champion of her students. I count myself
lucky to call her a mentor and a friend.
Without the encouragement of my colleagues at the University of
Chicago I could not have completed this project. I am grateful to Arnold
Davidson for his guidance and generosity in reading this manuscript. My
fascination with modern German philosophy I owe in part to Françoise
Meltzer, whose lectures gave me a new perspective on Kant. Special thanks
are due as well to Richard Rosengarten, for his faith in this project and for
his support at every step along the way; Margaret Mitchell, for steadying
me at key moments; and Paul Mendes-F lohr for his encouragement. It is
a privilege to work at Swift Hall alongside so many admirable individu-
als. I am grateful to Dan Arnold, Jeff Stackert, and Catherine Brekus for
their friendship and insight over the years. My ongoing conversations with
Simeon Chavel, Franklin I. Gamwell, Clark Gilpin, Kevin Hector, Wil-
lemien Otten, Jim Robinson, Susan Schreiner, and Christian Wedemeyer
have invigorated me. Over the years I have profi ted greatly from the men-
ix