Description
Book SynopsisReorienting our approach to fundamental questions about human existence
Trade ReviewWith great clarity and depth, Anne O'Byrne's new book, Natality and Finitude, explores a wide variety of themes, including birth, life, death, temporality, history, embodiment and reproduction. While O'Byrne never loses sight of the importance of identifying and exploring these themes as they occur throughout the Western philosophical tradition, her arguments are guided by the recent work on natality and finitude by Martin Heidegger, Wilhelm Dilthey, Hannah Arendt, and Jean-Luc Nancy.
* Continental Philosophy Review *
O'Byrne argues for a rethinking of finitude in terms of birth (or 'natality') rather than the Heideggerian motifs of being-towards-death. Natality offers a positive way to understand finitude in terms of possibilities ... RecommendedVol. 48 No. 11 August 2011
* Choice *
The relevance of this book—to crucial debates in continental thought, feminism, and political philosophy—cannot be over-emphasized. O'Byrne is particularly generous to her colleagues; the text so brims with references to secondary literature that outline the major sources of input to the discussion. The endnotes point to lines of further research. The prose is generally clear, engaging, and insightful. This work shound not be overlooked. 1/26/2011
* Symposium, Canadian Journal for Continental Philosophy *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
1. Introduction: Sophocles' Wisdom
2. Historicity and the Metaphysics of Existence: Heidegger
3. Generating Life, Generating Meaning: Dilthey
4. Philosophy and Action: Arendt
5. On the Threshold of Finitude: Nancy
Afterword: What Would the Clone Make of Us?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
