Jean-Luc Nancy and Plural Thinking

Book excerpt: Wide-ranging essays on Jean-Luc Nancy’s thought. Jean-Luc Nancy is one of the leading voices in European philosophy of the last thirty years, and he has influenced a range of fields, including theology, aesthetics, and political theory. This volume offers the widest and most up-to-date responses to his work, oriented by the themes of world, finitude, and sense, with attention also given to his recent project on the “deconstruction of Christianity.” Focusing on Nancy’s writings on globalization, Christianity, the plurality of art forms, his materialist ontology, as well as a range of contemporary issues, an international group of scholars provides not just inventive interpretations of Nancy’s work but also essays taking on the most pressing issues of today. The collection brings to the fore the originality of his thinking and points to the future of continental philosophy. A previously unpublished interview with Nancy concludes the volume. “This invaluable collection engages with the full range of Nancy’s philosophical concerns to offer a series of enriching and highly illuminating critical perspectives. It demonstrates the importance of Nancy’s work for philosophical reflection on the contemporary world.” — Ian James, author of The Fragmentary Demand: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Jean-Luc Nancy