Death, Time and the Other Ethics at the Limit of Metaphysics

This book addresses the limits of metaphysics and the question of the possibility of ethics in this context. It is divided into six chapters, the first of which broadens readers’ understanding of difference as difference with specific reference to the works of Hegel. The second chapter discusses the works of Emmanuel Lévinas and the question of the ethical. In turn, the concepts of sovereignty and the eternal return are discussed in chapters three and four, while chapter five poses the question of literature in a new way.  The book concludes with chapter six. The book represents an important contribution to the field of contemporary philosophical debates on the possibility of ethics beyond all possible metaphysical and political closures. As such, it will be of interest to scholars and researchers in both the humanities and social sciences. Beyond the academic world, the book will also appeal to readers (journalists, intellectuals, social activists, etc.) for whom the question of the ethical is the decisive question of our time.

Preface by Franson Manjali

Introduction

 1.       Difference and Time

Introduction—Philosophy and non-philosophy—Identity, difference and ground–Difference, time and other

2.       Interrupting/Disrupting Speculative Time

The problem—Phenomenon and temporality—Infinity and transcendence—Justice and freedom—Outside the Book

3.       The Experience of the Limit-I

Introduction—Mourning and philosophy—The death of God—The specular /spectacular death—The tragic

4.       The Experience of the Limit-II

Signification of madness in the history of philosophy—Madness of the Subject—Work and pain—Art and fiction—The eternal return

5.       ‘Tarrying with the Negative’?

 Conclusion (Beyond “Closure”)

Bibliography

Saitya Brata Das teaches philosophy and literature at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is a former fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla. He has published widely in many national and international journals. His book The Political Theology of Schelling has come out from Edinburgh University Press in 2016.