It's Not About the Gift by Anthony J Steinbock

It's Not About the Gift by Anthony J Steinbock

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Summary

Leading phenomenologist Tony Steinbock intervenes in contemporary discussion around the concept of the gift, providing a critical reading of the main figures on the problem of the gift and offering a new perspective on the gift, situating it in the emotional sphere, specifically in relation to loving and humility.

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It's Not About the Gift by Anthony J Steinbock

In his fascinating new book, leading phenomenologist Anthony Steinbock intervenes in contemporary debate around the idea of the gift through a set of critical readings in which he situates the gift in the context of interpersonal relations. While taking up the key figures in the discussion (Heidegger, Derrida, Marion, Henry, Maimonides), Steinbock proposes the following: that these discussions of the gift are really not about the gift. He demonstrates, through critical interpretations and phenomenological analyses, how the gift only becomes meaningful in the context of interpersonal loving. The gift is not the point: "it's not about the gift". The gift becomes most fully what it is, following Maimonides, in participating with others toward their liberation. The point is the interpersonal relation of lover to beloved, which allows the gift to appear.
Gift-giving is not simply about patterns of exchange or even giving without return; it presumes a rich context of experience: aesthetic, moral, and above all the motivation of loveSteinbock guides us through the dense phenomenological tradition of gift and givenness and, in his attention to beauty, goodness and love, adds something new, fundamental and unforgettable to the discussion. -- Kevin Hart, Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Christian Studies, University of Virginia
Steinbock's analysis of the enigma of the gift is phenomenology at its best. At once engaging with our everyday experience of giving and givenness and deploying the richest contemporary research on the subject in Heidegger, Derrida and Marion. This work is a rare gift of thought in its own right. -- Richard Kearney, Charles Seelig Professor of Philosophy, Boston College
It's Not About The Gift is a highly important contribution to contemporary philosophy of intersubjectivity and sociality. It challenges fundamental assumptions and intuitions of the gift-theoretical approach dominant in continental philosophy and offers an alternative based on Steinbock’s rich and multifaceted phenomenology of emotions. The book will initiate a new phase in gift-theoretical debates concerning the foundations of ethics and will also stimulate contemporary social phenomenology. -- Sara Heinämaa, Professor of Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Anthony J. Steinbock is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Phenomenology Research Center at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. His many publications include Moral Emotions (2014), Phenomenology and Mysticism (2007), Home and Beyond: Generative Phenomenology After Husserl (1995) and the English translation of Husserl's Analyses Concerning Passive and Active Synthesis (2001).
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781786608260
ISBN 10 178660826X
Title It's Not About the Gift
Author Anthony J Steinbock
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield International
Year published 2018-06-16
Number of pages 156
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.