Boundless care: Lacoste’s liturgical being refigured through Heidegger’s Sorge

Taking Jean-Yves Lacoste’s account of liturgy as a point of departure, this essay examines Lacoste’s view of care. Lacoste thinks that care is bracketed or suspended in liturgy. To make this point, Lacoste discusses Martin Heidegger’s notions of world and care. However, Lacoste fails to make adequate distinctions between Heidegger’s notions of care (Sorge) and concern (Besorgen). The crux of this essay is my explanation of the significance that the difference between care and concern makes for our understanding of the meaning of liturgical practices and their pertinence to our worldly lives. I point out the kinds of philosophical ideas that Lacoste inherits from Heidegger and then I explain where Lacoste and Heidegger part ways and why Lacoste lacks sufficient conceptual grounds for his rejection of care as an element of liturgy.