While humanists have pondered the subject of love to the point of obsessiveness, philosophers have steadfastly ignored it. One might wonder whether the discipline of philosophy even recognizes love. The word philosophy means "love of wisdom," but the absence of love from philosophical discourse is curiously glaring. So where did the love go? In The Erotic Phenomenon, Jean-Luc Marion asks this fundamental question of philosophy, while reviving inquiry into the concept of love itself. Marion begins his profound and ...
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While humanists have pondered the subject of love to the point of obsessiveness, philosophers have steadfastly ignored it. One might wonder whether the discipline of philosophy even recognizes love. The word philosophy means "love of wisdom," but the absence of love from philosophical discourse is curiously glaring. So where did the love go? In The Erotic Phenomenon, Jean-Luc Marion asks this fundamental question of philosophy, while reviving inquiry into the concept of love itself. Marion begins his profound and personal book with a critique of Descartes' equation of the ego's ability to doubt with the certainty that one exists-"I think, therefore I am"-arguing that this is worse than vain. We encounter being, he says, when we first experience love: I am loved, therefore I am; and this love is the reason I care whether I exist or not. This philosophical base allows Marion to probe several manifestations of love and its variations, including carnal excitement, self-hate, lying and perversion, fidelity, the generation of children, and the love of God. Throughout, Marion stresses that all erotic phenomena, including sentimentality, pornography, and even boasts about one's sexual conquests, stem not from the ego as popularly understood but instead from love. A thoroughly enlightening and captivating philosophical investigation of a strangely neglected subject, The Erotic Phenomenon is certain to initiate feverish new dialogue about the philosophical meanings of that most desirable and mysterious of all concepts-love.
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Seller's Description:
Good. All pages and cover are intact. Possible minor highlighting and marginalia. Ships from an indie bookstore in NYC. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 248 p.
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Seller's Description:
New. While humanists have pondered the subject of love to the point of obsessiveness, philosophers have steadfastly ignored it. This book offers an inquiry into the concept of love itself. Translator(s): Lewis, Stephen E. Num Pages: 248 pages, black & white illustrations. BIC Classification: HP. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 228 x 153 x 19. Weight in Grams: 346. 2008. Paperback.....We ship daily from our Bookshop.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. HARDCOVER Acceptable-This is a significantly damaged book. It should be considered a reading copy only. Please order this book only if you are interested in the content and not the condition. May be ex-library. Standard-sized.
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Seller's Description:
New. Philosophy has strayed from its roots, quite literally, asserts French philosopher Jean-Luc Marion. Taking its name from the Greek origin, 'love of wisdom, ' philosophy intimates that loving comes before knowing. To quote Marion, 'Philosophy comprehends only to the extent that it loves-I love to comprehend, therefore I love in order to comprehend. I do not, as one might prefer to believe, end up by comprehending enough to dispense forever with loving. ' Yet philosophy renounced its love and turned instead to metaphysics, effectively censuring philosophy's erotic origin. Jean-Luc Marion seeks to construct an inquiry on love out of this amorous disaster. Beginning with Descartes' famous dictum-'I think, therefore I am'-Marion points out its fatal omission, namely, that being is not intrinsically bound up with love (or hate for that matter). This denial of an erotic disposition in favor of erotic neutrality is Descartes' one great error, unnoticed for nearly four centuries. With adequate humility, Marion sets off in search of an erotic rationality, examining man's self-hatred, arousals of the flesh, lying and truthfulness, perversion, fidelity, the generation of children, and the love of God. Marion stresses that all erotic phenomena rise not from the ego but from love, presupposing a first Lover who loves by the same means as we do, but loving us infinitely better. 230 pp.
