Apocalyptic political theology : Hegel, Taubes and Malabou / Thomas Lynch.

Hegel's philosophy of religion contains an implicit political theology. When viewed in connection with his wider work on subjectivity, history and politics, this political theology is a resource for apocalyptic thinking. In a world of climate change, inequality, oppressive gender roles and racism, Hegel can be used to theorise the hope found in the end of that world. Histories of apocalyptic thinking draw a line connecting the medieval prophet Joachim of Fiore and Marx. This line passes through Hegel, who transforms the relationship between philosophy and theology by philosophically employing theological concepts to critique the world. Jacob Taubes provides an example of this Hegelian political theology, weaving Christianity, Judaism and philosophy to develop an apocalypticism that is not invested in the world. Taubes awaits the end of the world knowing that apocalyptic destruction is also a form of creation. Catherine Malabou discusses this relationship between destruction and creation in terms of plasticity. Using plasticity to reformulate apocalypticism allows for a form of apocalyptic thinking that is immanent and materialist. Together Hegel, Taubes and Malabou provide the resources for thinking about why the world should end. The resulting apocalyptic pessimism is not passive, but requires an active refusal of the world.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Cover; Half Title; Series; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations and Notes on Translation; Introduction; 1 Philosophy, political theology and the end of the world; What is political theology?; What is this world that ends?; Schmitt: From earth to world by way of law; Nature and capital; Gender; Race; The ontology of the world; Conflicts and antagonisms; Imagining the end; Questioning the apocalypse; 2 Implicit political theology: Reading Hegel's philosophy of religion; Joachim, Hegel and the end of the world

Representational thought: An outline of Hegel's philosophy of religionHegel's implicit political theology; Philosophy and the return to representation; Conclusion; 3 Spiritual disinvestment: Taubes, Hegel and apocalypticism; An introduction to Taubes; Taubes and Hegel; Apocalypticism and the question of history; Taubes and Bloch; Anti-liberal tendencies in Hegel, Taubes and Schmitt; Transcendental materialist readings of Hegel: From Taubes to Malabou; 4 Plastic apocalypticism; Malabou, Hegel and plasticity; Plastic apocalypticism: Taubes and Malabou

The problem of novelty and the rejection of the transcendentTaubes and immanence; Immanence and apocalypticism: Against messianism; A Blochian supplement; Contingency and plastic apocalypticism; The necessity of contingency; Contingency all the way down?; Conclusion; 5 Pessimism and hope in apocalyptic living; Living with the absence of alternatives; Pessimism and surrender; Living towards the end of the world; The end; Notes; Introduction; 1 Philosophy, Political Theology and the End of the World; 2 Implicit Political Theology: Reading Hegel's Philosophy of Religion

3 Spiritual Disinvestment: Taubes, Hegel and Apocalypticism4 Plastic Apocalypticism; 5 Pessimism and Hope in Apocalyptic Living; Bibliography; Index

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