Description
Book SynopsisDeath and Finitude offers an examination and defense of a pragmatic transcendental anthropology applicable to the concepts of limit, finitude, and mortality that are constitutive of human life as we know it. Sami Pihlström develops a special kind of philosophical anthropologya pragmatic yet transcendental examination of the human conditionthat interprets what is worth preserving in the tradition of transcendental philosophy in such a manner that this unusual combination will crucially enrich our understanding of a human problem we all share: mortality. In some sense, all serious philosophy inevitably reflects on the human condition and is thus philosophical anthropology, broadly conceived. There can hardly be any more serious problem concerning the human condition than the problem of death. Yet, mainstream analytic contributions to the philosophy of death usually addresses death in general, and it is far from obvious that such contributions are philosophically relevant in the sense of
Trade ReviewPragmatic naturalism has received considerable attention in recent years, and Sami Pihlstrom's most recent work is a strong addition to that literature: 1) it deepens his own ongoing transcendental approach to pragmatism and pragmatic naturalism in intriguing and forceful ways ; 2) it engages extensively with relevant analytic literature, as well as sources in other traditions, thus expanding the reach of pragmatist considerations, and 3) it offers a range of conceptual and existential insights into fundamental questions of death, dying, and mortality. This is a work that well rewards careful reading. -- John Ryder, American University of Malta
Table of ContentsPreface 1.Introduction 2.Mortality and philosophical anthropology 3.The self as a limit 4.Death—mine or the other’s? 5.Death, guilt, and (in)equality 6.Controlling death? Pragmatist philosophy of mortality 7.Conclusion: a pragmatic transcendental anthropology
