Thisvolume in the Studying World Religionsseries is an essential guide to the study of Judaism. Clearly structured tocover all the major areas of study, including historical foundations, scripture, worship, society, material culture, thought and ethics, this is theideal study aid for those approaching Judaism for the first time. Studying Judaism offers readers thechance to engage with a religious tradition as a diverse, living phenomenon. Its approach is ‘critical’ in two major respects: its use of the dimensionalapproach to the study of religions as an interpretive framework, and its focuson matters perceived as problematic by insider and/or outsider commentators, such as gender, demography, geo-politics, the ‘museumization’ of Jewishcultures and its impact on religion and identity. This book is the perfectcompanion for the fledgling student of Judaism.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Anderson’s book clearly and patiently reveals the problems posed to contemporary philosophy by ethics, notably in the wake of deconstructive thought. Careful to avoid the simplifications which often accompany appeals to the “ethical” dimension of literary or philosophical discourse today, this study provides a necessary start-point for those wishing to evaluate seriously the question of philosophy as ethical practice.–Sanford Lakoff
Nicole Anderson’s Derrida: Ethics Under Erasure provides a wonderfully clear and convincing account of the ethical relevance of deconstruction. Ranging across Derrida’s entire oeuvre, Anderson demonstrates that deconstruction calls us to rethink without ever abandoning such traditional ethical categories as freedom, responsibility, and moral obligation. It also shows how such an “ethics under erasure,” far from being divorced from our everyday lives, can help explain our most concrete, lived experience. This book should put to rest once and for all the uninformed and yet widespread belief that deconstruction is irresponsible, unethical, or nihilistic.–Sanford Lakoff
Today, more than ever, it is necessary to step back from easy or pious uses of the word ethical. It has also been necessary, for some time now, to move beyond dismissals and deifications of Derrida. Nicole Anderson, one of the worlds most formidable Derrida scholars of the post-Derrida generation, achieves both these tasks. Derrida: Ethics Under Erasure provides a nuanced reading of Derrida, while accepting the difficulty of any simple affirmation of the deconstructive tradition. At once informed by tradition and original, Anderson’s book sets the tone for a twenty-first century deconstruction.–Sanford Lakoff
About the Author
Nicole Anderson is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Media, Music, Communications and Cultural Studies at Macquarie University, Australia. She is an International Fellow of the London Graduate School, Kingston University, UK, and of Project Biocultures at the University of Illinois, Chicago, USA. She is the co-founder and co-chief editor of the journal Derrida Today, author of Culture (Routledge, 2011) and co-editor of Cultural Theory in Everyday Practice (OUP, 2008).
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