Communication and eschatology: The work of waiting, an ethics of relief, and areligious religiosity

Journal/Book: Communication Theory. 1997; 7: 72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012. Guilford Publications Inc. 343-361.

Abstract: This article begins from an understanding of critical theory as being in need of something. The arguments made here develop a series of related concepts-the work of waiting, an ethics of relief, and areligious religiosity-that begin to address this need at the heart of critical theory. Built around a series of philosophical circumscriptions that sketch the outlines of these concepts, I argue that to participate in the radical continuation of the Enlightenment we need to return io an unlikely place-religion. To achieve this return, I offer an explication of Heidegger's address, The Principle of Reason (1996), focusing on his discussion of calculative reason, and Freud's Future of an Illusion (1961). This gives the vital context for understanding the various meanings comported by the metaphor of an ethics of relief. In light of this, I demonstrate that there is a space reserved for these ideas within contemporary critical theory as represented by the discourse ethics of Habermas. By intersecting the position I develop with two points in Habermas's work, I show that the concepts of the work of waiting, all ethics of relief, and areligious religiosity can begin a response to the need identified at the heart of critical theory.

Note: Article Ramsey RE, Arizona State Univ W, Phoenix,AZ 85069 USA

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