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Indiana University

Natality and Finitude

Natality and Finitude

Anne O'Byrne
Distribution: World
Publication date: 9/3/2010
Format: paper 218 pages
6 x 9 x .625
ISBN: 978-0-253-22241-1
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Description

Philosophers are accustomed to thinking about human existence as finite and deathbound. Anne O'Byrne focuses instead on birth as a way to make sense of being alive. Building on the work of Heidegger, Dilthey, Arendt, and Nancy, O'Byrne discusses how the world becomes ours and how meaning emerges from our relations to generations past and to come. Themes such as creation, time, inheritance, birth and action, embodiment, biological determinism, and cloning anchor this sensitive and powerful analysis. O'Byrne's thinking advances and deepens important discussions at the intersections of feminism, continental philosophy, philosophy of religion, and social and political thought.

Author Bio

Anne O’Byrne is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Stony Brook University.

Reviews

"The relevance of this book—to crucial debates in continental thought, feminism, and political philosophy—cannot be over-emphasized. O'Byrne is particularly generous to her colleagues; the text so brims with references to secondary literature that outline the major sources of input to the discussion. The endnotes point to lines of further research. The prose is generally clear, engaging, and insightful. This work shound not be overlooked." —Symposium, Canadian Journal for Continental Philosophy

"O'Byrne argues for a rethinking of finitude in terms of birth (or 'natality') rather than the Heideggerian motifs of being-towards-death. Natality offers a positive way to understand finitude in terms of possibilities ... Recommended" —Choice , Vol. 48 No. 11 August 2011

"An extraordinary book, beautifully written, well argued." —Peg Birmingham, DePaul University

"With great clarity and depth, Anne O’Byrne’s new book,
Natality and Finitude,

explores a wide variety of themes, including birth, life, death, temporality, history,

embodiment and reproduction. While O’Byrne never loses sight of the importance

of identifying and exploring these themes as they occur throughout the Western

philosophical tradition, her arguments are guided by the recent work on natality and

finitude by Martin Heidegger, Wilhelm Dilthey, Hannah Arendt, and Jean-Luc

Nancy." —
Continental Philosophy Review

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
1. Introduction: Sophocles' Wisdom
2. Historicity and the Metaphysics of Existence: Heidegger
3. Generating Life, Generating Meaning: Dilthey
4. Philosophy and Action: Arendt
5. On the Threshold of Finitude: Nancy
Afterword: What Would the Clone Make of Us?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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