An Enlightened Trust In The Sovereignty Of

Deconstruction Insists Not That Truth Is Illusory But That It Is Institutional.

To Claim That Science And Religion Pose Different Questions To The World Is Not To Suggest That If The Bones Of Jesus Were Discovered In Palestine, The Pope Should Get Himself Down To The Dole Queue As Fast As Possible. It Is Rather To Claim That While Faith, Rather Like Love, Must Involve Factual Knowledge, It Is Not Reducible To It.

Nations Sometimes Flourish By Denying The Crimes That Brought Them Into Being. Only When The Original Invasion, Occupation, Extermination Or Usurpation Has Been Safely Thrust Into The Political Unconscious Can Sovereignty Feel Secure.

Any Attempt To Define Literary Theory In Terms Of A Distinctive Method Is Doomed To Failure.

Like The Rest Of Us, Tom Paulin Is A Bundle Of Contradictions. At Its Finest, His Work Is Brave, Adventurous, Original And Wonderfully Idiosyncratic.