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The Gift of Death, Second Edition &…
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The Gift of Death, Second Edition & Literature in Secret (Religion and Postmodernism Series) (edition 2007)

by Jacques Derrida, David Wills (Translator)

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2041131,908 (3.75)1
The Gift of Death, Jacques Derrida’s most sustained consideration of religion, explores questions first introduced in his book Given Time about the limits of the rational and responsible that one reaches in granting or accepting death, whether by sacrifice, murder, execution, or suicide. Derrida analyzes Czech philosopher Jan Patocka’s Heretical Essays in the Philosophy of History and develops and compares his ideas to the works of Heidegger, Lévinas, and Kierkegaard. One of Derrida’s major works, The Gift of Death resonates with much of his earlier writing, and this highly anticipated second edition is greatly enhanced by David Wills’s updated translation.   This new edition also features the first-ever English translation of Derrida’s Literature in Secret. In it, Derrida continues his discussion of the sacrifice of Isaac, which leads to bracing meditations on secrecy, forgiveness, literature, and democracy. He also offers a reading of Kafka’s Letter to His Father and uses the story of the flood in Genesis as an embarkation point for a consideration of divine sovereignty.   “An important contribution to the critical study of ethics that commends itself to philosophers, social scientists, scholars of religion . . . [and those] made curious by the controversy that so often attends Derrida.”—Booklist, on the first edition… (more)
Member:karav
Title:The Gift of Death, Second Edition & Literature in Secret (Religion and Postmodernism Series)
Authors:Jacques Derrida
Other authors:David Wills (Translator)
Info:University Of Chicago Press (2007), Edition: 2, Paperback, 160 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
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The Gift of Death, Second Edition & Literature in Secret by Jacques Derrida

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We have here a kind of shibboleth, a secret formula such as can be uttered only in a certain way in a certain language.

As the Poet sang, "God said to Abraham, kill me a son. . ." Grant us then, a huddle of actors on our moral boards. We know of Abe and Isaac. Their plight is understood. Enter the dark invader (cue Weil's music for Seeräuberjenny) who ruminates, massages and kneads. Is this God revealed? No, it is Derrida. Mocker Jack, Jacques the Reader, Herr Doktor Deconstruction, uncanny unraveler, a gnostic Houdini, Jacky of the Trace, the Aporia and the Author's last wheeze. The Gift of Death proved to be a monstrous book, so dense and slippery. Derrida engages the idea of one's death, whether one owns, can give (in term of control) whether such can be subsumed a tradition or a small "h" history. No Antigone this time around but there is an exploration of Nietzsche's notion of debt in morality. Most pages were read at least three times. I thought the culminating argument into Noah and the Flood was simply profound. The earlier sections, most notably the opening one were almost inscrutable. ( )
  jonfaith | Feb 22, 2019 |
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The Gift of Death, Jacques Derrida’s most sustained consideration of religion, explores questions first introduced in his book Given Time about the limits of the rational and responsible that one reaches in granting or accepting death, whether by sacrifice, murder, execution, or suicide. Derrida analyzes Czech philosopher Jan Patocka’s Heretical Essays in the Philosophy of History and develops and compares his ideas to the works of Heidegger, Lévinas, and Kierkegaard. One of Derrida’s major works, The Gift of Death resonates with much of his earlier writing, and this highly anticipated second edition is greatly enhanced by David Wills’s updated translation.   This new edition also features the first-ever English translation of Derrida’s Literature in Secret. In it, Derrida continues his discussion of the sacrifice of Isaac, which leads to bracing meditations on secrecy, forgiveness, literature, and democracy. He also offers a reading of Kafka’s Letter to His Father and uses the story of the flood in Genesis as an embarkation point for a consideration of divine sovereignty.   “An important contribution to the critical study of ethics that commends itself to philosophers, social scientists, scholars of religion . . . [and those] made curious by the controversy that so often attends Derrida.”—Booklist, on the first edition

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