Fragility and Transcendence

Reviews / Votes

A poet and a philosopher, a retiring and humble man, Jean-Louis Chretien did not live for fame but for toil and the service of truth. This collection of essays is a fitting tribute by scholars who learnt much from him and know very well what his work still has to teach. -- Jean-Yves Lacoste, Clare Hall, University of Cambridge Jean-Louis Chretien was one of the most lucid and provocative of major French authors in recent times. He was perhaps the Socrates of our day. It will take decades to come to terms with his achievements: his work on the secret, on fatigue, on response and responsibility, not to mention his poetry, his theory of the novel, his thoughts about prayer, and his understanding of Scripture. The essays by distinguished authors gathered in Fragility and Transcendence give us a splendid first introduction to Chretien's important work. -- Kevin Hart, University of Virginia This truly superb collection of essays on the boundary-breaking work of the French phenomenologist and poet, Jean-Luis Chretien is a fitting memorial for a thinker who continues to be received. Its thinking of the French thinker's concepts such as call and response, memory and hope, fragility, and prayer is indeed a form of thanking. The thinking through and again of his concepts is necessarily a sounding that is a resounding, since the concepts do not have hard edges and call forth other concepts albeit under the sign of the impossibility of intellectual mastery. Marvelously, there is nothing hagiographical about the volume. The authors think Chretien, think with him, and on occasions think against him. All see him as an invitation to think and speak with love, hope, and gratitude as well as make love, hope, and gratitude objects of speech, objects of testimony and witness. -- Cyril O'Regan, Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame Thanks to a handful of translations, the philosophy of Jean-Louis Chretien has become increasingly recognized by anglophone readers; nevertheless, it remains sorely underappreciated. Fragility and Transcendence is a major contribution that introduces and explores the rich landscape of Chretien's work. Here, the reader will find insights regarding major themes of Chretien's philosophy, not only fragility and transcendence, but also language, the body, religion, prayer, and more. A joy to read and an illuminating engagement with an essential voice in the philosophy of religion. -- Brian Treanor, professor of philosophy, Loyola Marymount University Reading Jean-Louis Chretien is challenging: he presents us with exquisitely complex analyses that shatter our preconceptions. Perhaps it is not surprising that this enigmatic figure remains little known in the English-speaking world. But this collection of sparkling essays provides a superb entree to the many facets of his thought. It will, no doubt, become a major resource for anyone wanting to understand and interact with Chretien's remarkable thinking. -- Bruce Ellis Benson, host of the podcast <i>On Becoming</i>