Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewBeing Guilty is provocative and original, both as intellectual history and as philosophical argument. Elgat has very interesting things to say on a variety of subjects pertaining to guilt, especially in Nietzsche and Heidegger. The book is certain to stimulate vigorous discussion and debate. * Taylor Carman, Professor of Philosophy, Barnard College *
This is a wide-ranging and highly informative study of guilt, the feeling of guilt, and conscience, including their relations to freedom and responsibility, through the lens of the German philosophical tradition. The study examines three major approaches—metaphysical (Kant, Schelling, Schopenhauer), naturalistic (Rée, Nietzsche), and phenomenological (Heidegger). Elgat's interpretations are always careful and scholarly, his arguments perceptive and lucid. The readings of Nietzsche and Heidegger in particular are of illuminating originality. Elgat's own critical appraisal of the philosophers studied, as well as his independent reflections, show well-informed and balanced judgement throughout. This book deserves to become a key text on this topic. * Peter Poellner, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Warwick *
Guilt, as Guy Elgat first introduces us to it, is a feeling: "the unpleasant feeling for having done wrong in some sense" (1â2). But this, it quickly becomes clear, is merely guilt as surface phenomenon, and the question that animates Elgat's book is, as its subtitle suggests, whether this surface phenomenon can be grounded on any deeper metaphysical foundations. Is this painful feeling really justified? Are we (ever, always?) actually guilty...And perhaps such an existence, "guilty" in Elgat's sense though it may be, might be a choiceworthy one. * Claire Kirwin, Northwestern University, Ethics *
Being Guilty...succeeds in presenting us with a systematic, insightful and valuable account of various ways in which the possibility of moral guilt and the assertion or denial of its justifiability can be explained. * David James, Criminal Law and Philosophy *
Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: Kant: The Timeless Deed that Makes Guilt Possible Chapter Two: Schelling: Evil, Freedom, and Guilt Chapter Three: Schopenhauer: The Varieties of Guilt Chapter Four: Rée: The Naturalization of Guilt Chapter Five: Nietzsche: The Genealogy of Guilt Chapter Six: Heidegger: Being-guilty as a Condition of Possibility of Guilt Conclusion
