Qingxuan Wang
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
Not being able to speak positively is different from not being able to speak at all, especially when the subject of our speech is the Godhead. This paper aims to explore Maimonides’s negative theology in The Guide of the Perplexed and its reception and interpretation by the Jewish postmodern thinker Jacques Derrida. I will first examine the Maimonidean Via Negativa (the negative way), focusing on its neo-Platonic character and pessimistic conclusion. I will then examine how this line of thought is received and critically developed by Derrida, who argues that negations do not necessarily lead to a vacuum of knowledge or a suspension of speech and knowledge. Rather, it is in and through prayer that our theological language reveals its nature of différance – an existential posture and horizon that simultaneously orients us to the ineffable truth and preserves our freedom to pursue it.
Chair: Andreas Frenzel
Time: September 8th, 10:00-10:30
Location: SR 1.006
SOPhiA 2026 