{"id":2589,"date":"2018-09-24T16:22:51","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T21:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/williamfranke\/?p=2589"},"modified":"2026-01-22T02:54:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T07:54:55","slug":"books-by-others-about-william-frankes-books-general-review-essays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/williamfranke\/2018\/09\/books-by-others-about-william-frankes-books-general-review-essays\/","title":{"rendered":"Books by Others about William Franke\u2019s Books + General Review Essays"},"content":{"rendered":"

Books by Others about William Franke\u2019s Books + <\/em>General Review Essays<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Contemporary Debates in Negative Theology and Philosophy<\/a>, e<\/em>ds. Nahum Brown and J. Aaron Simmons (London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2017) (xi + 464 pages), Palgrave Frontiers in Philosophy of Religion Series — includes responses by William Franke to each of fourteen essays.<\/p>\n

\"contemporary<\/a><\/p>\n

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From J.A. Simmons, 1 Introduction: Old Questions and New Frontiers (pp. 9-11):<\/p>\n

‘In the attempt to articulate possible alternative ways forward, this
\nvolume unfolds in three parts. In Part I, \u201cA Philosophy of the Unsayable:
\nInterpretations and Consequences,\u201d Kevin Hart, J. Aaron Simmons,
\nWilliam Christian Hackett, Sai Bhatawadekar, and Stephen R.
\nPalmquist all engage William Franke\u2019s recent book, A Philosophy of the
\nUnsayable, which is perhaps the most sustained attempt in the literature
\nto sketch the contours of a thorough-going apophatic philosophy of
\nreligion, if such a thing is possible.20 For years, Franke has been among
\nthe vanguard of scholars trying to find ways for apophaticism to speak
\nto our current situation. Although he is certainly not the only person to
\nmove in this direction\u2014many other scholars in various disciplines have
\nalso been working in similar areas, for example, consider the work of
\nWendy Farley, Catherine Keller, Denys Turner, Andrew Louth, Bernard
\nMcGinn, Amy Hollywood, Hent de Vries, and Roger Ames, just to
\nname a few\u2014Franke\u2019s A Philosophy of the Unsayable stands out as of particular
\nrelevance to the way in which such apophatic strains in human
\ncultural traditions can be brought to bear on contemporary philosophy
\nof religion.
\nThe contributors to this first part of the volume are not unified in
\ntheir assessment of Franke\u2019s project. Some offer substantial criticisms
\nand express worries that a philosophy of the unsayable seems to try to
\ndo what philosophy is unable to do and so faces insurmountable selfreference
\nproblems. Alternatively, others share Franke\u2019s frustration with
\nthe propositional restrictions that might unnecessarily characterize too
\nmuch of philosophical reflection in this area. Despite such philosophical
\ndisagreements, all of the contributors in Part I are committed to the
\nproject of overcoming objectivist reductionism within the philosophy
\nof religion. Frequently inspired by phenomenological insights regarding
\nthe importance of attending to the excess of phenomenality, the conditions
\nof revelation, the different modes of givenness, and the relationship
\nbetween belief and practice, these scholars all explore liminality in
\norder to take seriously the lived experience of transcendence as a philosophical
\nquestion.
\nIn Part II, \u201cThinking the Apophatic: Hegel and Postmodernity,\u201d we
\nfind chapters that follow on the heels of the broadly phenomenological
\norientation of Part I. These essays all move in a generally historical
\nprogression through Hegel\u2019s legacy of what we might term \u201cnegative
\npostmodern philosophy.\u201d Nahum Brown bridges the first two parts
\nof the volume by thinking about Franke\u2019s work in light of the different
\nways that negation shows up in Hegel\u2019s complicated authorship.
\nThen, Andrew Hass extends the engagement with Hegel by thinking
\nabout what negating negation might mean as a \u201cgenerative\u201d philosophical
\ntask. Peter Kline moves from Hegel to Kierkegaard and argues that
\nthe notion of \u201cinfinite reduplication\u201d offers important resources for
\nthinking about Kierkegaard\u2019s (non)concept of God. Elliot R. Wolfson
\nthen offers an extended consideration of the way in which Heidegger
\ndisplays a commitment to philosophically expressing the \u201cUnsayable.\u201d
\nDirectly responding to some of these themes in Wolfson\u2019s chapter,
\nLissa McCullough brings Wolfson and Franke together as critical
\ninterlocutors in a shared project. Subsequently, David Chai suggests
\nthat Derrida and Zhuangzi can be productively considered as mutually
\nengaged in the task of apophatic hermeneutics. Finally, William Franke
\nattempts an exercise in cross-cultural negative philosophy regarding the
\nidea of universality in light of the work of Fran\u00e7ois Jullien.
\nHaving explored the limits of philosophy of religion in Part I and the
\nimplications of apophaticism in postmodern thinking in Part II, Part III
\ngoes one step further and considers what might lie beyond disciplinary
\nborders when negation in philosophy opens onto literature and poetry.
\nHere, Sabine Lenore M\u00fcller, Bruno B\u00e9u, and Anthony Curtis Adler all
\npress at the limits of expression in ways that remain critically aware of
\nthe importance of being responsible simultaneously to one\u2019s reader (by
\nsaying clearly what needs to be said) and also the subject\/object of one\u2019s
\ninquiry (which might overflow attempts at speech and so require some
\nsense of unsaying whatever one does say). Through sustained readings of
\nWilliam Butler Yeats, Rainer Maria Rilke, Fernando Pessoa, and Philip
\nK. Dick, these scholars push philosophy of religion in different, more
\nliterary, directions as concerns the act of writing, the task of reading,
\nand the necessity of speaking.
\nThe volume concludes with a final chapter by William Franke that
\nresponds to the ideas and claims offered in the rest of the book. It is
\nappropriate that Franke offers such a response not only because his
\nwork has been so influential on the field (and specifically influential on
\nthe scholars included here), but also because he consistently works at
\nthe disciplinary boundaries explored in this volume. That said, Franke\u2019s
\nconcluding chapter is the last in the volume, but should not be viewed
\nas the last word on the topics under consideration here. It stands, rather,
\nas an attempt by a leading figure in these areas to give some sort of overarching
\ncoherence to the contemporary debates in negative theology
\nand philosophy. As they should in any vibrant philosophical discourse,
\ndifferences remain and disagreements abound among the scholars in
\nthis volume, but they are most effectively able to be part of a shared
\nconversation when they occur according to a framework of directional
\ncoherence. Franke\u2019s authorship has been a sweeping example of how
\nspending a great deal of time thinking about \u201cwhat cannot be said\u201d can
\nlead to saying quite a bit, and so it is fitting that he provides this timely
\nchapter not to end the conversation, but to propel it forward.’<\/p>\n

From William C. Hackett, \"William Franke and the Unfinished Philosophical Revolution\r\nof the West\":  'Contemporary thinking in the Continental tradition is marked in particular by \r\na major revision in the division of labor between the disciplines of theology and philosophy.\r\nA central characteristic of this revision is a critique of reason that rediscovers the conditions\r\nof possibility of rational reflection in the mythic or narrative horizon. This perspective, a truly\r\nCopernican turn\u00a0from within the Kantian legacy<\/em>, is exemplified in the recent work of William\r\nFranke,\u00a0A Philosophy of the Unsayable<\/em>. Perhaps the crucial determining question of this \r\ncontemporary turn is the status of divine revelation within it. This chapter attempts to situate\r\nFranke within the tradition of Western thought, understood as a theoretical penetration of \r\nreason\u2019s own \u201capophatic milieu,\u201d in order to raise the question of revelation in light of his \r\nthinking.'<\/pre>\n
 <\/p>\n
Syndicate Theology<\/em>, vol. 3, issue 2, March\/April (2016) \u201cWilliam Franke, A Philosophy of the Unsayable,<\/em>\u201d<\/a> pp. 101-148<\/p>\n
\"Syndicate_Page_1\"<\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
(online<\/a> and print versions available)<\/p>\n
Online Symposium on *A Philosophy of the Unsayable*<\/a><\/h2>\n
Syndicate Theology Forum on A Philosophy of the Unsayable <\/em>by William Franke <\/span><\/p>\n
4.11.16 | <\/span>  Kendall Cox<\/a> <\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
\n
Symposium Introduction<\/h5>\n
 \"Kendall<\/span>  Kendall Cox<\/span> <\/span> <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Symposium Panelists<\/h4>\n
\n
\"Sai<\/span>  Sai Bhatawadekar<\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n
\"W.C.<\/span>  W.C. Hackett<\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n
\"Kevin<\/span>  Kevin Hart<\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n
\"J.<\/span>  J. Aaron Simmons<\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n
\"Stephen<\/span>Stephen Palmquist<\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
 <\/p>\n
General Review Essays:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Steven E. Knepper, \"Literary Revelations: On William Franke and the Bible,\" <\/a>\r\nVoegelin Review <\/em>August 24, 2024.    See further Knepper, Wonder Strikes,  <\/em>pp.114-20<\/pre>\n
<\/pre>\n
William C. Hackett, \u201cFitting a Candle for its Flame: William Franke\u2019s Literary Theologico-Philosophy,\u201d Religion and Literature<\/em> 48\/2 (Summer 2016): 197-209<\/a><\/p>\n
J. Aaron Simmons, \u201cDiagnosing Predicaments and Attending to Futures: Responding to William Franke\u2019s Account of the \u201cPredicament of Philosophy of Religion\u00a0Today\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n
Critique of \u201cWilliam Franke\u2019s Transcendent Apophaticism\u201d by Roger T. Ames, \u201cGetting Past Transcendence,\u201d in Transcendence, Immanence, and Intercultural Philosophy, <\/em>eds. Nahum Brown and William Franke (New York: Palgrave, 2016), pp. 5-33<\/a><\/p>\n
Sabine Lenore M\u00fcller, “Apophasis as a Means of Expressing Ecological Indeterminacy: Reading Modernist Poetry with William Franke\u2019s <\/a>A Philosophy of the Unsayable,” Contemporary Debates in Negative Theology and Philosophy, <\/a><\/span><\/em> pp 295-320<\/span>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
William C. Hackett, “William Franke and the Unfinished Philosophical Revolution of the West,” Contemporary Debates in Negative Theology and Philosophy<\/em><\/a>, pp. 39-56<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Books by Others about William Franke\u2019s Books + General Review Essays Contemporary Debates in Negative Theology and Philosophy, eds. Nahum Brown and J. Aaron Simmons (London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2017) (xi + 464 pages), Palgrave Frontiers in Philosophy of Religion Series — includes responses by William Franke to each of fourteen essays.        …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":615,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/williamfranke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/williamfranke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/williamfranke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/williamfranke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/615"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/williamfranke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2589"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/williamfranke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4611,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/williamfranke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2589\/revisions\/4611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/williamfranke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/williamfranke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/williamfranke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}