John D. Caputo

Thomas J. Watson Professor in Religion and Humanities
Ph.D., Bryn Mawr College, 1968

John D. Caputo, the Thomas J. Watson Professor in Religion and Humanities, also serves as Professor of Philosophy. Prof. Caputo is a specialist in contemporary continental philosophy, with a particular expertise in phenomenology, hermaneutics and deconstruction. Over the years he has developed the notion of what he calls "radical hermeneutics," which is a theory of interpretation employing more radically deconstructive concepts of meaning and truth. His most important work in recent years has been to rebut the charges of relativism made against deconstruction by showing that deconstruction is organized around the affirmation of certain unconditional ethical and political claims. His Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida (1997) has provoked a widespread rereading of the work of Derrida and also sparked considerable interest in Derrida in theology and religious studies.

In the philosophy department, he teaches courses in Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Levinas, and Derrida. Prof. Caputo has a special interest in continental approaches to the philosophy of religion and teaches courses in the religion department on issues like the "religion without religion" of Jacques Derrida; the "theological turn" taken in recent French phenomenology (Jean-Luc Marion and others); the critique of "onto-theology;" the dialogue of contemporary philosophy with St. Augustine and St. Paul; medieval metaphysics and mysticism. He has just published a book entitled The Weakness of God. Along with Prof. Alcoff, he co-directs a series of biennial conferences on continental philosophy and religion, the first of which (April, 2005) was entitled "St. Paul Among the philosophers." His most recent books are On Religion (Routledge 2001) and More Radical Hermeneutics (2001).

Prof. Caputo joined the Religion Department in Fall, 2004 after retiring from Villanova University where he taught from 1968 to 2004.

For more information, visit http://religion.syr.edu/Caputo.html

Professor Caputo's office is located in 506 Hall of Languages.
His office number is: 315-443-9681.
His e-mail is: jdcaputo at syr dot edu

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