First published in 1990, Philosophy at the Limit was originally part of the Problems of Modern European Thought book series. It pursues the theme of philosophy’s confrontation with its own limits, in modern philosophers from Hegel to Derrida, including Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and Gadamer. The author focuses on questions of philosophical style, dialogue and indirect communication, the structural closure of philosophical texts, and performative strategy in philosophy. The book is an accessible discussion of many of the complex issues that empower continental philosophy. It will appeal to students of philosophy and contemporary thought at every level, and to the general reader interested in the heart of the debates in European thought.
Editors’ foreword Acknowledgements Introduction 1. The faces of silence 2. Metaphysics and metaphor 3. Deconstruction and criticism 4. Philosophy as writing: the case of Hegel 5. Nietzsche’s styles 6. Indirect communication 7. Vigilance and interruption: Derrida, Gadamer and the limits of dialogue 8. Performative reflexivity Conclusion Index
Biography
David Wood
