Interpreting Excess
Jean-Luc Marion, Saturated Phenomena, and Hermeneutics
Will be published approx. on 1. December 2009
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-8232-3108-9 (ISBN)
Description
Jean-Luc Marion's theory of saturated phenomena is one of the most exciting developments in phenomenology in recent decades. It opens up new possibilities for understanding phenomena by beginning from rich and complex examples such as revelation and works of art. Rather than being curiosities or exceptions, these "excessive" or "saturated" phenomena are, in Marion's view, paradigms. He understands more straightforward phenomena, such as the objects of the natural sciences, as reduced and impoverished versions of the excess given in saturated phenomena.
Interpreting Excess is a systematic and comprehensive study of Marion's texts on saturated phenomena and their place in his wider phenomenology of givenness, tracing both his theory and his examples across a wide range of texts spanning three decades.
The author argues that a rich hermeneutics is implicit in Marion's examples of saturated phenomena but is not set out in his theory. This hermeneutics makes clear that attempts to overthrow the much-criticized sovereignty of the Cartesian ego will remain unsuccessful if they simply reverse the subject-object relation by speaking of phenomena imposing themselves with an overwhelming givenness on a recipient. Instead, phenomena should be understood as appearing in a hermeneutic space already opened by a subject's active reception. Thus, a phenomenon's appearing depends not only on its givenness but also on the way it is interpreted by the receiving subject. All phenomenology is, therefore, necessarily hermeneutic.
Interpreting Excess provides an indispensable guide for any study of Marion's saturated phenomena. It is also a significant contribution to ongoing debates about philosophical ways of thinking about God, the relation between hermeneutics and phenomenology, and philosophy "after the subject."
Interpreting Excess is a systematic and comprehensive study of Marion's texts on saturated phenomena and their place in his wider phenomenology of givenness, tracing both his theory and his examples across a wide range of texts spanning three decades.
The author argues that a rich hermeneutics is implicit in Marion's examples of saturated phenomena but is not set out in his theory. This hermeneutics makes clear that attempts to overthrow the much-criticized sovereignty of the Cartesian ego will remain unsuccessful if they simply reverse the subject-object relation by speaking of phenomena imposing themselves with an overwhelming givenness on a recipient. Instead, phenomena should be understood as appearing in a hermeneutic space already opened by a subject's active reception. Thus, a phenomenon's appearing depends not only on its givenness but also on the way it is interpreted by the receiving subject. All phenomenology is, therefore, necessarily hermeneutic.
Interpreting Excess provides an indispensable guide for any study of Marion's saturated phenomena. It is also a significant contribution to ongoing debates about philosophical ways of thinking about God, the relation between hermeneutics and phenomenology, and philosophy "after the subject."
Reviews / Votes
"Philosophers and theologians will be indebted to this discerning analysis of Marion's 'saturated phenomenon'--widely recognized as a development in phenomenological method and an overdue corrective to metaphysical and theological abstractions. Mackinlay is both appreciative and critical of Marion's achievement. As a result, his book communicates a fresh sense of how experience overflows all categories, while providing a critical framework in which Marion's contribution to current thinking can be assessed: an outstanding achievement, considering the challenge to pin down the fertile subtlety of this French philosopher as he treats of the 'excess' of what is given-outstripping all our capacities to express it." -- -Anthony J. Kelly, CSsR Australian Catholic University "To snap out of the fascination with things as they appear to us and to uncover, through patient discipline, the hidden structure of appearance as such. And then to find that this appearance is often excessive - overflowing our horizons or disappointing our hopes - and that phenomenality, those structures when they come to light, is not restricted to objects, and gives itself to us from more sites and in more ways than we ever supposed. Such is what Jean-Luc Marion asks of us. It is a lot to take in, and we need Shane Mackinlay's patient, clear guidance to help us." -- -Kevin Hart The University of Virginia "Discusses art, revelation, and other realms in a study of the French philosopher and theologian's theory of saturated phenomena." -The Chronicle of Higher Education "Mackinlay's prose is lucid and accessible... Recommended." -Choice "The first, thorough, complete and critical discussion of Marion's philosophical project in the context of contemporary phenomenology." -- -Rudolph Bernet Husserl Archives, Leuven "Mackinlay's accurate book is the first pervasive essay on the phenomenological side of Jean-Luc Marion's thought. It is a brilliant and insightful reading, nourished by a perfect knowledge of the entire work, as well as the whole range of phenomenology, which never hesitates to engage in critical remarks when necessary. His main thesis is that Marion fails to give all the consideration it deserves to the hermeneutical aspect of " saturated phenomena ", and more generally to the hermeneutic character of phenomenality itself. This essay is of great interest for all philosophers interested in Marion's work but also in contemporary phenomenology, hermeneutics and french philosophy." -- -Claude Romano University of Paris-SorbonneMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
544 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8232-3108-9 (9780823231089)
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
Person
Shane Mackinlay is a Lecturer in Philosophy at Catholic Theological College (Melbourne College of Divinity).