Europe, or The Infinite Task: A Study of a Philosophical Concept

by Rodolphe Gasché

Overview

What exactly does "Europe" mean for philosophy today? Putting aside both Eurocentrism and anti-Eurocentrism, Gasché returns to the old name "Europe" to examine it as a concept or idea in the work of four philosophers from the phenomenological tradition: Husserl, Heidegger, Patočka, and Derrida. Beginning with Husserl, the idea of Europe became central to such issues as rationality, universality, openness to the other, and responsibility. Europe, or The Infinite Task tracks the changes these issues have undergone in phenomenology in order to investigate "Europe's" continuing potential for critical and enlightened resistance in a world that is progressively becoming dominated by the mono-perspectivism of global market economics. Rather than giving up on the idea of Europe as an anachronism, Gasché aims to show that it still has philosophical legs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804770958
Publisher:	Stanford University Press
Publication date:	12/22/2008
Series:	Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	432
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Rodolphe Gasché is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Eugenio Donato Professor of Comparative Literature at the State University of New York at Buffalo. His most recent books are Views and Interviews: On "Deconstruction" in America (2007), and The Honor of Thinking: Critique, Theory, Philosophy (Stanford, 2007).

Table of Contents

@fmct:Contents @toc4:Acknowledgments iii Abbreviations iii Introduction iii @toc1:Part I: Edmund Husserl @toc2:1 Infinite Tasks 000 2 Universality and Spatial Form 000 3 Universality in the Making 000 @toc1:Part II: Martin Heidegger @toc2:4 Singular Essence 000 5 The Strangeness of Beginnings 000 6 The Originary World of Tragedy 000 @toc1:Part III: Jan Patoka @toc2:7 Care of the Soul 000 8 The Genealogy of Europe-Responsibility 000 @toc1:Part IV: Jacques Derrida @toc2:9 European Memories 000 10 This Little Thing that is Europe 000 11 De-Closing the Horizon 000 Epilogue 000 @toc4:Notes 000 Bibliography 000 Index 000

Editorial Reviews

"Europe, or the Infinite Task represents a much needed contribution to contemporary debates in political theory. Avoiding easy ways out or simplistic stances towards complex conceptual problems, Gasché faces the challenge of thinking about universality today with all its subtleties and perplexities. His book is not only an inspiring example of patient textual analysis and scholarly rigor, but also an invitation for the reader to face philosophical thinking in all its complexity—perhaps a practical exercise of the 'infinite task' Gasché wishes that we consider."

Theory & Event - Javier Burdman

"Europe, or the Infinite Task represents a much needed contribution to contemporary debates in political theory. Avoiding easy ways out or simplistic stances towards complex conceptual problems, Gasché faces the challenge of thinking about universality today with all its subtleties and perplexities. His book is not only an inspiring example of patient textual analysis and scholarly rigor, but also an invitation for the reader to face philosophical thinking in all its complexity—perhaps a practical exercise of the 'infinite task' Gasché wishes that we consider."—Javier Burdman, Theory & Event

"Gasché is among the top continental philosophers working in the United States, and this sophisticated and stimulating book is perhaps his crowning achievement so far."—Robert Bernasconi, University of Memphis

"In our ironic, post-philosophical epoch, it seems anachronistic and even foolish to write such an exhaustive philosophical treatise—in effect, four books in 412 pages. Despite this, Gasché offers an admirably unified argument thanks to his constant focus on 'question Europe'."—Philosophy in Review

From the Publisher

"Gasché is among the top continental philosophers working in the United States, and this sophisticated and stimulating book is perhaps his crowning achievement so far."

University of Memphis - Robert Bernasconi

"In our ironic, post-philosophical epoch, it seems anachronistic and even foolish to write such an exhaustive philosophical treatise—in effect, four books in 412 pages. Despite this, Gasché offers an admirably unified argument thanks to his constant focus on 'question Europe'."

Philosophy in Review