Words Fail - (Perspectives in Continental Philosophy) by Colby Dickinson (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book investigates the form of spirituality given shape in the intersection of poetics and theological-philosophical reflection, concerned especially with matters of representation and failure.

Book Synopsis

There has been much philosophical speculation on the potential failure of language as well as the search for a presentation of the "thing itself" beyond representation. Words Fail pursues the writings of a trio of philosophers--Jacques Derrida, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, and Giorgio Agamben--as prime examples of how modern poetry presents us with a profitable vantage point from which to survey the ongoing struggle of living in a highly fragmented world.

Alongside these thinkers, this book looks specifically at the form of spirituality that is given shape by this intersection of poetics and theological-philosophical reflection--all of which offer rich suggestions about our spiritual nature.

Review Quotes

"Colby Dickinson provides us with a compelling meditation on the complex relationship between poetry, philosophy, and religion. He not only illuminates Derrida and Agamben's engagement with poetry but allows poetry to talk back to philosophy--and invites the reader to reconsider what is at stake every time we sit down to write."-----Adam Kotsko, Shimer College

About the Author

Colby Dickinson is Assistant Professor of Theology at Loyola University Chicago.