sided form of expression, sheer assertion, forestalling the possibility of recog-
nition and open context awareness (for an analysis of sado-masochism in
one-sided relations, see Jessica Benjamin 1988). For example: although sen-
sitive to this problem, Colin Murray Parkes, Pittu Laungani, and Bill Young
argue, in an introductory essay to a volume dedicated to exploring religion
and bereavement, that respect for the sacred is vital for developing healthy
relations (Parkes et al.1997:10–23). Similar claims can be found through the
anthology Death and Spiritualityedited by Kenneth J. Doka and John D. Morgan
(1993). A reoccurring figure in much of the vast literature on spirituality and
coping with death is Carl Jung, who, in his later years, encouraged his patients
to actively explore and embrace their neuroses, particularly through religious
imagery and language ( Jung 1989). It is needless to point out that the encour-
agement of neurotic behavior will not be particularly helpful for the estab-
lishment of open context awareness. The painful tension between the possibility
of relatively undistorted communication and distortions in language due to
the presence of neuroses was the focus of much of Habermas’s earlier work
(1971). The emphasis on developing spiritual narratives during the process
of dying neglects the fact that not all forms of respect for the sacred include
open and reflective communication, nor does such respect itself guarantee
non-alienating forms of interaction. In other words, the practice of respect-
ing the sacred may not coincide with the normative ideals of reciprocity and
mutual understanding in health care, and may in fact actively work against
them. Following up on this, I think the dangers of the postmodern response
to death can be explained by turning to the dynamics of religious language.
As a means of clarifying Walter ’s thesis regarding the revival of death in
postmodernism, I think it is best situated alongside Habermas’s notion of
postmetaphysical thinking. By examining the semantic potentials of religious
language as theorized by Habermas, it becomes evident that critical theory
is in a position to offer a critical rejoinder to therapeutic recommendations
suggesting that religion or spirituality is an invaluable resource for dealing
with death and dying.
Communicative Action and Religious Language
Habermas argues that religious language is situated on the margins of philo-
sophical translation, resistant to the tendencies of cultural modernity toward
the reasoning discourses of the linguistification of the sacred. For Habermas,
Intersubjectivity and Religious Language • 191