"An Unknown Tongue": God, Complexity, and the Limits of Secular Epistemology in Cormac McCarthy's The Passenger and Stella Maris

Abstract: Cormac McCarthy's duology The Passenger and Stella Maris examines the productive nexus between science and religious inquiry in a contemporary context. Predicated on the recent historiographic notion that there has always been a productive relationship between these fields, McCarthy's final novels explore how physics, mathematics, philosophy, and music blend in a worldview that explores the metaphysical implications of these areas of inquiry when considered together. In this context, McCarthy emerges as a radical skeptic who remains uncertain about ultimate questions but understands the value and necessity of both scientific inquiry and religious experience.