After Enlightenment

After Enlightenment: The Post-Secular Vision of J. G. Hamann is a comprehensive introduction to the life and works of 18th-century German philosopher, J. G. Hamann, the founding father of what has come to be known as Radical Orthodoxy.
Provides a long-overdue, comprehensive introduction to Haman’s fascinating life and controversial works, including his role as a friend and critic of Kant and some of the most renowned German intellectuals of the age
Features substantial new translations of the most important passages from across Hamann’s writings, some of which have never been translated into English
Examines Hamann’s highly original views on a range of topics, including faith, reason, revelation, Christianity, biblical exegesis, Socrates, theological aesthetics, language, sexuality, religion, politics, and the relationship between Judaism and Christianity
Presents Hamann as the 'founding father’ of a distinctly post-modern, post-secular theology and, as such, as an alternative to the ‘postmodern triumvirate’ of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida
Considers Hamann’s work as a touchtone of modern Jewish-Christian dialogue, in view of debates with his friend Moses Mendelssohn
Explores Hamann’s role as the visionary founder of a ‘metacritical’ movement that radically calls into question the basic principles of modern secular reason, and thus reprises the debate between those defending Hamann’s views and those labeling him the bête noir of the Enlightenment

John R. Betz is Associate Professor of Theology at Loyola College, Maryland. He has published several articles on Hamann, including Hamann's London Writings and Hamann's significance to Kierkegaard.

"This is an important book for at least two reasons. On the one hand, it is a complete, reliable, and agreeably written introduction to Johann Georg Hamann's life, work and world. On the other hand, it contributes substantially to the ongoing discussion in contemporary theology and philosophy about the seemingly ineradicable tension between modernity and Christianity." (Modern Theology, April 2010)

"John Betz’ book is arguably the single best work on Hamann in the English speaking world and the most informed recent work on Hamann in any language. Hamann is as profound as he is obscure; hence a comprehensive interpretation of Hamann in relationship to the philosophers, theologians, and literati of his own time with an eye constantly upon our own intellectual context, is a rare achievement. I warmly commend After Enlightenment to a wide readership."
–Reinhard Huetter, Duke University

Preface.
Acknowledgments.
Abbreviations.
Introduction.
Part I: The Making of a Christian Socrates.
1. Life and Writings 1730–1788.
The Making of a Philologist.
Hamann’s Conversion.
Hamann’s Falling Out with Berens.
Hamann’s Relationship with Kant.
2. The London Writings: On the Glory of Trinitarian Condescension.
Night Thoughts: On the Interpretation of Scripture.
Glory in the “Rags” of Scripture.
Biblical Meditations.
“Reflections on church hymns”.
“Fragments” and “Prophecies”.
3. A Typological Re-reading of Socrates: On Faith, Reason, and History.
The Prophet and the Idol.
From Socratic Irony to Christian Humor.
Toward a Philosophy of History.
A Propaedeutic to Real Enlightenment.
Converting Hume: Knowledge “By Faith Alone”.
Kant, Hamann, and the So-called “Kinderphysik Fiasco”.
Part II: Crusades of the Philologist.
4. Life and Writings 1760–1774.
Against the Purification of Language.
The Magi and “The Knight of Faith”.
Crusades of the Philologist.
On “Solomon of Prussia” and High School Drama.
The Hamann–Herder Connection.
A Satirical Masterpiece and Other Writings.
5. Toward a Christological Poetics: A New Aesthetics of Scripture and Creation.
Cloverleaf of Hellenistic Letters: On the Style of Scripture.
Aesthetica in nuce: On the Language of Creation.
The Dithyrambs of a Christian Dionysus.
Seeing All Things in Christ.
Toward a Christological Poetics.
6. Correcting a Disciple: Hamann and Herder on the Origin of Language.
Hamann’s Review of Herder’s Preisschrift.
The Return of Aristobulus.
Philological Ideas and Doubts.
The Crusading Knight’s Last Will and Testament.
The Mystery of Language: The Alpha and Omega.
Part III: Masks and Mystery Writings.
7. Life and Writings 1775–1780.
Hierophantic Letters.
Family Life: Portrait of a Christian Sensualist.
Two Mites: On the Tabernacle of Language.
8. The Sibyl Speaks: On the Protological and Eschatological Mystery of Marriage.
The Mystery of Marriage: A verum signaculum Creatoris.
Essay of a Sibyl on Marriage.
“Aprons of fig leaves”: On Reason’s Inveterate Shame.
9. Fragments of an Apocryphal Sibyl: On Rational and Apocalyptic Religion.
Doubts (about Reason) and Ideas (about the Mystical Body of Christ).
Konxompax: An Apocryphal Letter to Lessing.
Part IV: Metacritique of Reason, Natural Religion, and Secular Politics.
10. Life and Writings 1780–1784.
Hamann’s “Twins” of 1784.
Hamann and Jacobi.
Divestment and Transfiguration.
“Metacritical tubs”?.
11. Hamann’s Metacritique of Kant: Deconstructing the Transcendental Dream.
Transcendental “Mystique”: The First Review of the Critique of Pure Reason.
The Metacritique: A Brief History of the Purisms of Reason.
The “Genealogical Priority” of Language.
Language as a Sacrament.
12. Metacritical Politics: On Mendelssohn’s Jerusalem and the Modern Secular State.
A Synopsis of Mendelssohn’s Jerusalem.
Golgotha and Schleblimini: By a Preacher in the Desert.
Built upon Sand: The Babel of Modern Natural Rights.
Defending Judaism against Secular Reason, or the Real Content of the Real Jerusalem.
Prospect for Jewish–Christian Dialogue.
Part V: A Final Journey: Hamann’s Last Will and Testament.
13. Life and Writings 1785–1788.
The Münster Circle.
The “Dictators of Pure Reason”.
Portrait of a Christian Greatness in Knechtsgestalt.
Una Saancta Ecclesia.
A Cryptic Final Testament.
The Journey Home.
Conclusion. After Postmodernity: Hamann before the Postmodern Triumvirate.
Hamann and Postmodernity.
Hamann before Nietzsche.
Hamann before Heidegger.
Hamann before Derrida.
A Concluding Postscript to Postmodernity.
Biblical Index.
Index.