Symposium Review of Nancy's The Truth of Democracy

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January 25, 2011 by Peter Gratton

Here’s my review (Marie-Eve Morin rightly asked me to shorten it quite a bit from its initial length) of Jean-Luc Nancy, The Truth of Democracy. Trans. Pascale-Anne Brault and Michael Naas. New York: Fordham University Press, 2010; 55 pages. ISBN: 978-0823232451 in Symposium: The Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy. First, I think Marie-Eve and the other editors have done a great job updating and advancing Symposium the last couple of years. I particularly like the fact that the reviews are posted online, which, other than Marie-Eve’s cunning ability to keep me writing reviews (she says “yes” when I write her with an idea), is why I do them.

Speaking of Symposium, here’s David Appelbaum’s (SUNY-New Paltz) review of Anne O’Byrne’s Natality and Finitude. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010; 218 pages. ISBN: 978-0253222411. There’s a somewhat funny story to this: I really liked this book and thought it could deserve some play, so I thought I had contacted Marie-Eve Morin about doing a book review. Then I brought Natality and Finitude with me to New York to makes notes on and to write the review over the holidays. I saw Anne at the APA and mentioned that I was doing this and she said to me, “Oh, well, I heard someone else is reviewing it…” Which, given all that I have to do, did save some time… Here’s Appelbaum’s sentiment, which I share:

The relevance of this book—to crucial debates in continental thought, feminism, and political philosophy—cannot be over-emphasized.  O’Byrne is particularly generous to her colleagues: the text so brims with references to secondary literature that outline the major sources of input to the discussion.  The endnotes point to lines of further research.  …This work should not be overlooked.

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