Items related to Very Little...Almost Nothing: Death, Philosophy, Literature...
Very Little...Almost Nothing: Death, Philosophy, Literature (Warwick Studies in European Philosophy) - Hardcover
Synopsis
The 'death of man', the 'end of history' and even philosophy are strong and troubling currents running through contemporary debates. Yet since Nietzsche's heralding of the 'death of god', philosophy has been unable to explain the question of finitude.
Very Little...Almost Nothing goes to the heart of this problem through an exploration of Blanchot's theory of literature, Stanley Cavell's interpretations of romanticism and the importance of death in the work of Samuel Beckett. Simon Critchley links these themes to the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas to present a powerful new picture of how we must approach the importance of death in philosophy.
A compelling reading of the convergence of literature and philosophy, Very Little...Almost Nothing opens up new ways of understanding finitude, modernity and the nature of the imagination.
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Review
"This is a very brave book ... it makes philosophical conversation possible again after two decades of pragmatist intolerance."
-Roger Poole, Parallax
"(T)his is an often beautifully written philosophical act of mourning ... It also commands respect because it obliges one to examine the fictions one employs to avoid really doing philosophy. Critchley's steadfastly post-Kantian rejection of theological answers to the questions he asks is very welcome."
-Andrew Bowie, Radical Philosophy
..."manages with some aplomb, to pull off the extraordinarily difficult task of saying something new and interesting about Beckett and Blanchot."
-Martin McQuillan, New Formations
"Critchley keeps his writings for the most part powerful and elegant, wide-ranging but well-focussed. The book is at all times sibylline, moving, insightful, explorative."
-Colin Davis, French Studies
"Simon Critchley's readings of Schlegel, Blanchot and Beckett are remarkably nuanced and perceptive. Much more than an excellent companion to the study of the intertwinings of philosophy and literature, it is an admirable meditation on the ubiquity of finitude and its ungraspability."
-Jacques Taminiaux, Boston College
Synopsis
Very Little...Almost Nothing is a passionate and challenging philosophical defence of the very question of the meaning of life. Following the nihilism that has accompanied the 'death of God' and characterised much of modernity, Simon Critchley argues that the key question becomes a matter of finding a meaning to human finitude without recourse to anything that transcends that finitude. Very Little...Almost Nothing explores this question through examining the work of philosophers such as Blanchot and Levinas. Simon Critchley also draws out the philosophical significance of Cavell's reading of romanticism and the presence of death in Beckett's work - crucial but often overlooked themes in contemporary philosophy. A compelling reading of the convergence of literature and philosophy, Very Little...Almost Nothing opens up new ways of understanding finitude, modernity and the nature of the imagination.
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