In Introduction to a Phenomenology of Life, renowned French philosopher Renaud Barbaras aims to construct the basis for a phenomenology of life. Called an introduction because it has to deal with philosophical limits and presuppositions, it is much more, as Barbaras investigates life in its phenomenological senses, approached through the duality of its intransitive and transitive senses.

Originally published in French (Introduction a une phenomenologie de la vie) Introduction to a Phenomenology of Life first defines the problem of life phenomenologically, then studies the failures of the phenomenological movement to adequately think about life, and finally elaborates a new, original, and productive approach to the problem.

Combining original interpretations and expert readings of philosophers such as Heidegger, Henry, Bergson, and Merleau-Ponty, Barbaras offers a powerful and important contribution to phenomenology and continental thought.

About the Author

Renaud Barbaras is Chair of Contemporary Philosophy in the Sorbonne. His books in English include The Being of the Phenomenon: Merleau-Ponty's Ontology and Desire and Distance: Introduction to a Phenomenology of Perception.

Leonard Lawlor is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Philosophy at Pennsylvania State University. His many books include Early Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy. He previously translated Renaud Barbaras's The Being of the Phenomenon: Merleau-Ponty's Ontology.

Reviews

"Introduction to a Phenomenology of Life is a major work that recasts phenomenology as a phenomenology of life. In turn, life is investigated in its phenomenological senses, approached through the duality of its intransitive and transitive senses, i.e., being in life (leben) and feeling, having an experience of something (erleben), intertwining subjective life with a radical insertion in the world."-Francois Raffoul, author of Thinking the Event

Book Information
ISBN 9780253058164
Author Renaud Barbaras
Format Paperback
Page Count 382
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 585g