Mortal Subjects

Reviews / Votes

"An admirably clear account of a broad yet focused strand of twentieth-century French thought, and an impassioned yet subtle argument for its incompletion." French Studies "This book constitutes a magisterial study in its scope, the number of authors and perspectives studied, and the exactness and profundity of its aims. It goes as far as possible today in interrogating the supposed distinction between mind and body or between life and death (two couples in parallel and chiasmatic opposition). It's not a question of dissolving this double difference, but of thinking of it as the self-difference within a single 'subject'. This thought is crucial at a time when there is a danger of bodies becoming things and of death becoming insignificant. Christina Howells's journey is a powerful, rousing and passionate one: we must join her!" Jean-Luc Nancy, European Graduate School "Christina Howells's book approaches in an original way contemporary French thought by focusing on the intertwining of love and death, of body and soul, of passion and pain. By rigorously analysing several famous thinkers, but also less well-known authors, such as Gabriel Marcel or the psychoanalyst Didier Anzieu, she brings to light unexpected correspondences and fertile aporias, and introduces the reader to the richness and diversity of current continental thinking." Jacob Rogocinski, Strasbourg University "With wisdom, passion and great care, Christina Howells opens a world of understanding - from the ancient Greeks to contemporary neuroscience - to reveal modern French thought as a vital ally in our attempts to understand embodied existence. One of those rare books that help us think more deeply and feel more intensely, it is a magnificent achievement." Martin Crowley, Queens' College, University of Cambridge