Re-Imagining the Human: A Conference with Richard Kearney

"God is a shout in the street." This remarkable image of God is discussed by Simon Critchley and Richard Kearney in the latter’s book Re-Imagining the Sacred (2015), a series of philosophical conversations with influential thinkers on the meaning of religion in the secular age. Through these conversations, Kearney and his interlocutors explore the possibility of a "faith of the faithless." Are we "returning to God after God," as Kearney suggests in his earlier book, Anatheism (2012)? And if so, what does that imply for our imaginations of the human, of ourselves? How could a re-imagining of the sacred connect with a re-imagining of the human? 

In the context of the conference "Re-Imagining the Human: A Conference with Richard Kearney,” this prominent philosopher shared with us his reflections on these questions. During the day, six interlocutors presented interventions on themes like anatheism, imagination, carnal hermeneutics, all central to Kearney’s work. Three SIMAGINE members, Merel Visse, Hans Alma, and Bram van Boxtel, where among the interlocutors. 

In the evening public lecture, “Re-Imagining the Human,” Kearney analyzed the the COVID-19 pandemic as a crisis that urges us to rethink our touch (physical and mental) with each other and with the earth.

The conference was chaired by SIMAGINE coordinator Laurens ten Kate.

Click here for the full streaming of the evening session!