What exactly does "Europe" mean for philosophy today? Putting aside both Eurocentrism and anti-Eurocentrism, Gasche 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, Patocka, 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, Gasche aims to show that it still has philosophical legs.

About the Author
Rodolphe Gasche 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).

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, Gasche 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' Gasche wishes that we consider."-Javier Burdman, Theory & Event
"Gasche 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, Gasche offers an admirably unified argument thanks to his constant focus on 'question Europe'."-Philosophy in Review



Book Information
ISBN 9780804760614
Author Rodolphe Gasche
Format Paperback
Page Count 432
Imprint Stanford University Press
Publisher Stanford University Press
Weight(grams) 567g