An Existential Phenomenology of Addiction
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An Existential Phenomenology of Addiction by Anna Westin
Existential phenomenology can be a particularly helpful philosophical method for understanding human experience. Starting from the perspective of the subject, it can clarify and problematize subtle everyday relations, enabling greater insight into difficult situations. Used by contemporary philosophers as a way of understanding the embodied experience of illness, this method has been helpful for understanding physical illness in the medical humanities, offering a fruitful way of reading the subjectivity of mental states. An Existential Phenomenology of Addiction examines how the experience of addiction engages both mental and physical phenomena within the existence of a particular human life, using the philosophy of Emmanuel Lévinas and Søren Kierkegaard. The book maps out an existential phenomenology of subject-in-relation. Both Lévinas and Kierkegaard use decidedly psychological and theological language to situate their philosophy, discussing the subject through concepts of love, otherness, responsibility and hope, while played out in a situation of anxiety, suffering, desire and revelation. Combining existential phenomenological discourse with contemporary addiction discourse, Westin argues that the concept of subject as ‘addict’, as found in the Twelve Steps Program and disease models of addiction, ought to be replaced with the free and relational identity of subject as ‘addicted’.
In this absorbing and original book, Anna Westin explores the contested human experience of addiction through a dialogue between Lévinas, Kierkegaard and the Twelve Step programHer account offers rich food for thought, showing how it is possible to speak of love, freedom and hope even in the context of addiction. * Neil Messer, Professor of Theology, University of Winchester, UK *
This is a highly interesting book. It provides enthralling reflections on an intensely debated matter – addiction – by examining the addictive experience through the lens of an existential phenomenology of freedom, relation and hope. Through careful readings of Kierkegaard and Lévinas, Anna Westin explores new ways of engaging with the lived experience of the ‘addicted’ subject. Impressive and thought-provoking. A conscientious examination of the conditions of possibility for an existential phenomenology of freedom, relation and hope. * Michael Azar, Professor, Department of Literature, History of Ideas and Religion. University of Gothenburg, Sweden *
Westin’s much-needed exploration of the addiction experience is a thoughtful, honest, and penetrating analysis that warrants attentive reading even by those untouched by addiction or outside the therapeutic arena. * Journal of Phenomenological Psychology *
This is a highly interesting book. It provides enthralling reflections on an intensely debated matter – addiction – by examining the addictive experience through the lens of an existential phenomenology of freedom, relation and hope. Through careful readings of Kierkegaard and Lévinas, Anna Westin explores new ways of engaging with the lived experience of the ‘addicted’ subject. Impressive and thought-provoking. A conscientious examination of the conditions of possibility for an existential phenomenology of freedom, relation and hope. * Michael Azar, Professor, Department of Literature, History of Ideas and Religion. University of Gothenburg, Sweden *
Westin’s much-needed exploration of the addiction experience is a thoughtful, honest, and penetrating analysis that warrants attentive reading even by those untouched by addiction or outside the therapeutic arena. * Journal of Phenomenological Psychology *
Anna Westin is Visiting Lecturer at London School of Theology and Canterbury Christ Church University, UK.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781350114227 |
| ISBN 10 | 1350114227 |
| Title | An Existential Phenomenology of Addiction |
| Author | Anna Westin |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
| Year published | 2020-02-20 |
| Number of pages | 256 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |