Very Little ... Almost Nothing: Death, Philosophy, Literature (Warwick Studies in European Philosophy) - Softcover

Critchley, Simon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415128226 ISBN 13: 9780415128223

Publisher: Routledge, 1997

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.

About this title

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

The "death of man", the "end of history" and even philosophy are strong and troubling currents running through contemporary debate. We seem to be confronted with such an "end" at every turning. Yet following Nietzsche's notorious heralding of the "death of god", philosophy's response to the issue of finitude has been found wanting. This volume accounts for this lack in philosophy through an exploration of Blanchot's conception of literature, Levinas' notion of the "il y a", Cavell's reading of romanticism and the presence of death in Beckett's work. These themes are drawn together not in an attempt to restore meaning in the face of finitude, but to enable us to see the meaningless of life as an achievement, the achievement of the ordinary or the everyday.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415128226
• ISBN 13: 9780415128223
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 232