Review of Elliot R. Wolfson, Giving Beyond the Gift: Apophasis and Overcoming Theomania , New York: Fordham University Press, 2014. 547 pages

Elliot Wolfson's latest publication in the history of philosophy makes a formidable contribution to the contemporary discourse of apophatic theology, and it does so in two ways.Firstly, in a discourse typically focused upon the Christian tradition, Wolfson leads us expertly into somewhat less-explored territory in his engagement of seminal twentieth century Jewish thinkers ¾Cohen, Buber, Rosenzweig, Levinas, Derrida, and Wyschogrod¾as well as the tradition of Kabbalah.Secondly, Wolfson takes on the discourse's prominent themes¾namely, 'transcendence,' 'immanence,' 'absence,' the 'gift'¾with a penetrating and relentless spirit of deconstructive vigilance, pushing the language of the discourse to new reaches of phenomenological probity.The core impetus of the book, the author tells us, is "the belief that a theolatrous impulse lingers in the very heart of monotheism" (xiv), and indeed that "the postmodern apophatic theologies that have dominated the marketplace of ideas within the academy [are] still guilty of theomania" (xxiv).His point is that the 'unseen,' the 'inapparent,' the 'invisibility' of God or the divine has become itself a new 'visible' or 'presence' by virtue of that very absence¾or rather, by virtue of a theolatrous phenomenological focusing upon that absence.His intricately close analyses of the work of the thinkers as named above¾which are not only readings of those thinkers, but critical readings of the readings of others of those thinkers, as well as juxtapositions of certain strains of their thought with many others' from this century as well as past centuries¾explores to what extent each one has fallen headlong into theolatry, even in their valiant attempts to avoid it, or else, at best, remained vigilant to the end without yet ceasing to address the question of 'transcendence' altogether.Chapters 1 and 2 largely focus upon the work of Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig, and Martin Buber (Wolfson being particularly displeased with the personalizing language of the latter two); chapter 3 is devoted to Levinas, with a sizable helping of the later Heidegger contributing to the analysis; chapter 4 highlights Derrida, and especially the influence of the Kabbalistic tradition upon his thinking; chapter 5 engages Edith Wyschogrod, significantly appreciating her "philosophy of deep

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