Agamben and the Existentialists

'Consistently challenging, informative, and enlightening, the essays in this volume make a major contribution in situating Agamben's thought in relation to existentialist thinkers and themes. They provide a bright new lens through which to view Agamben's work.' Kevin Attell, Cornell University Explores the philosophical relationship between Giorgio Agamben and the existentialist tradition While Giorgio Agamben's work has not previously been categorised as existentialist, his work creatively repackages important existentialist themes in a politico-theological context. This collection of essays offers creative new ways of considering Agamben's critique of the sovereign exception, as well as other existentialist themes, including feminism and postcolonialism. The international range of contributors each challenge, complicate or reimagine Agamben's reading of the sovereign exception, which appears among the writings of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Heidegger, Beauvoir, Fanon, Kafka, Dostoevsky and others in both theistic and atheistic forms. Divided into three sections - Agamben and the Sovereign Exception, Agamben and the Death of God and Existentialist Themes in Agamben - this collection re-introduces Agamben as an unacknowledged existentialist philosopher who takes the major themes and concepts of existentialism in a startling new direction. Marcos Antonio Norris is a doctoral candidate and Crown Fellow at Loyola University Chicago. Colby Dickinson is Associate Professor of Theology at Loyola University Chicago. Cover image: (c) iStockphoto.com Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-7877-9 Barcode