
The Limit of the Useful
MIT Press
Published on 7. February 2023
Book
Hardback
432 pages
978-0-262-04733-3 (ISBN)
Description
The first English-language translation of an essential, early work key to understanding the French philosopher's later thought.
In the decade prior to the publication of Inner Experience (L'experience interieure), the twentieth-century French philosopher Georges Bataille produced a nascent masterwork containing some of his most original and extensive reflections on a range of subjects. With thoughts on ritual sacrifice and military conquest, the nature of laughter, and the mechanisms of capitalism, The Limit of the Useful, as Bataille had planned to title the work, illuminates the philosopher's later corpus, yet it remained unfinished and unpublished in his lifetime, and untranslated until now.
This is the first English-language translation of what Cory Austin Knudson and Tomas Elliott argue is one of Bataille's most structurally consistent works. Paired with draft essays and plans for The Accursed Share, along with over a hundred pages of appendixes and notes, the volume distinctively elaborates Bataille's thought. The Limit of the Useful spans a decade of rich intellectual ferment in Bataille's life as he first formulated his challenge to capitalism, engaging with concepts and ideas in ways not seen in his other published works. The volume bridges the gap between Bataille's surrealist literary writings and later scientific pretensions, drawing attention to, and filling in, an overlooked lacuna in his oeuvre.
In the decade prior to the publication of Inner Experience (L'experience interieure), the twentieth-century French philosopher Georges Bataille produced a nascent masterwork containing some of his most original and extensive reflections on a range of subjects. With thoughts on ritual sacrifice and military conquest, the nature of laughter, and the mechanisms of capitalism, The Limit of the Useful, as Bataille had planned to title the work, illuminates the philosopher's later corpus, yet it remained unfinished and unpublished in his lifetime, and untranslated until now.
This is the first English-language translation of what Cory Austin Knudson and Tomas Elliott argue is one of Bataille's most structurally consistent works. Paired with draft essays and plans for The Accursed Share, along with over a hundred pages of appendixes and notes, the volume distinctively elaborates Bataille's thought. The Limit of the Useful spans a decade of rich intellectual ferment in Bataille's life as he first formulated his challenge to capitalism, engaging with concepts and ideas in ways not seen in his other published works. The volume bridges the gap between Bataille's surrealist literary writings and later scientific pretensions, drawing attention to, and filling in, an overlooked lacuna in his oeuvre.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge (Massachusetts)
United States
Publishing group
MIT Press Ltd
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 211 mm
Width: 147 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
561 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-262-04733-3 (9780262047333)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Georges Bataille | Cory Austin Knudson | Tomas Elliott
The Limit of the Useful
E-Book
02/2023
MIT Press
€33.99
Available for download
Persons
Georges Bataille (1897-1962) was a French writer, essayist, and philosopher whose works include The Story of the Eye, The Blue of Noon, The Accursed Share, and Theory of Religion.
Cory Austin Knudson holds a visiting position in Comparative Literature at Eckerd College. His work has appeared in the Journal of Modern Literature, Postmodern Culture, and Environment, Space, Place.
Tomas Elliott is Assistant Professor of English at the New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University London.
Cory Austin Knudson holds a visiting position in Comparative Literature at Eckerd College. His work has appeared in the Journal of Modern Literature, Postmodern Culture, and Environment, Space, Place.
Tomas Elliott is Assistant Professor of English at the New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University London.
Content
Introduction vii
The Limit of the Useful 1
I The Galaxy, the Sun, and Man 3
II Unproductive Expenditure 25
III The World of Private Expenditure 51
IV The Gift of Life 79
V Winter and Spring 89
VI War 95
VII Sacrifice 109
Preliminary Essays for The Accursed Share 135
Economy at the Scale of the Universe 137
Preliminary Notes to the Writing of The Accursed Share 149
The Accursed Share, or The Limit of the Useful: Drafts of Tables of Contents and Summary of Manuscripts 159
Dossier of Bataille's Notes and Outlines for The Limit of the Useful 171
Translators' and Editors' Notes 313
Bibliography 357
The Limit of the Useful 1
I The Galaxy, the Sun, and Man 3
II Unproductive Expenditure 25
III The World of Private Expenditure 51
IV The Gift of Life 79
V Winter and Spring 89
VI War 95
VII Sacrifice 109
Preliminary Essays for The Accursed Share 135
Economy at the Scale of the Universe 137
Preliminary Notes to the Writing of The Accursed Share 149
The Accursed Share, or The Limit of the Useful: Drafts of Tables of Contents and Summary of Manuscripts 159
Dossier of Bataille's Notes and Outlines for The Limit of the Useful 171
Translators' and Editors' Notes 313
Bibliography 357