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William C. Hackett’s English translation of Jean Wahl’s Existence humaine et transcendence (1944) brings back to life an all-but-forgotten book that provocatively explores the philosophical concept of transcendence. Based on what Emmanuel Levinas called “Wahl’s famous lecture” from 1937, Existence humaine et transcendence captured a watershed moment of European philosophy. Included in the book are Wahl's remarkable original lecture and the debate that ensued, with significant contributions by Gabriel Marcel and Nicolai Berdyaev, as well as letters submitted on the occasion by Heidegger, Levinas, Jaspers, and other famous figures from that era. Concerned above all with the ineradicable felt value of human experience by which any philosophical thesis is measured, Wahl makes a daring clarification of the concept of transcendence and explores its repercussions through a masterly appeal to many (often surprising) places within the entire history of Western thought. Apart from its intrinsic philosophical significance as a discussion of the concepts of being, the absolute, and transcendence, Wahl's work is valuable insofar as it became a focal point for a great many other European intellectuals. Hackett has provided an annotated introduction to orient readers to this influential work of twentieth-century French philosophy and to one of its key figures.
"It brings back to life an all-but-forgotten book that provocatively explores the philosophical concept of transcendence."—The New York Review of Books
"Hackett’s [introductory] essay gives Wahl’s readers an excellent guide to understanding what is at stake in philosophy and theology for Wahl, and it puts Wahl’s thinking into conversation with late 20th-century and contemporary thinkers like Jean-Luc Nancy, Jean-Luc Marion, and Emmanuel Falque." —Reading Religion
"It is the sign of an original thinker that his or her writing can detach itself from the moment of its production and gain different and surprising meanings when deployed in new debates. And this is why we should be grateful that, with this translation, Wahl is no longer a half-forgotten figure from the past, but is available to new generations of readers to inspire and provoke." —Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
"With this translation, augmented by William C. Hackett's comprehensive introduction to Jean Wahl and his summary of Wahl's seminal Human Existence and Transcendence, we now have Wahl's most important writings in English. The book presents the well-known ideas of transascendence and transdescendence and, in so doing, highlights the relevance of Wahl's 'philosophy of transcendence' today. Remarkable for its anticipations of later French thought, Wahl's work provides a key to much of what remains hidden in the tradition of twentieth-century French thought." —Leonard Richard Lawlor, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Philosophy, Penn State University
"Jean Wahl, an early proponent of existentialism and an insightful interpreter of American pragmatism, Hegel, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche, was a major presence on the French philosophical and intellectual scene for five decades, yet his work is largely unknown to English-speaking readers. His presentation in 1937 on 'Subjectivity and Transcendence' elicited responses from some of the leading philosophical voices in Europe, including Heidegger, Jaspers, Marcel, and Levinas. Human Existence and Transcendence grew out of and includes this presentation and those responses, and its translation will serve as an excellent introduction to the work of this important and influential philosopher." —Alan D. Schrift, F. Wendell Miller Professor of Philosophy, Grinnell College
“This is a book by a philosopher for philosophers. The discussion includes poets and artists as philosophers, so a wide variety of readers are invited to these meditations on human life.” —Catholic Library World
“Brings back to life an all-but-forgotten book that provocatively explores the philosophical concept of transcendence.” —The New York Review of Books
William C. Hackett is Research Fellow and Lecturer in Philosophy at Australian Catholic University, Melbourne.
Jean Wahl (1888–1974) was professor of philosophy at the Sorbonne from 1936 to 1967. A number of his books have been translated into English, including A Short History of Existentialism and Philosophies of Existence.
Foreword by Kevin Hart
Introduction: Jean Wahl, A Human Existence and Transcendence(s) by William C. Hackett
Preface
- On Existence
- On the Idea of Transcendence
- Subjectivity and Transcendence
- On the Idea of Being
- On the Absolute
- On Space and Time
- On Descartes
- Poetry and Metaphysics
- Magic and Romanticism: Notes on Novalis and Blake
- Novalis and the Principle of Contradiction
- From “Wahl’s Famous Lecture” (Meeting of the Société française de philosophie, December 4, 1937) Introductory Note and Dramatis Personae of December 4, 1937 by William C. Hackett
Discussion
Letters Translated by Jeffrey Hanson
Appendix 1. Selected List of Philosophers, Artists, and Poets in Wahl’s Text
Appendix 2. Books by Jean Wahl in English