The Fragmentary Demand

This introduction to the philosophy of Jean-Luc Nancy gives an overview of his philosophical thought to date and situates it within the broader context of contemporary French and European thinking. The book examines Nancy's philosophy in relation to five specific areas: his account of subjectivity; his understanding of space and spatiality; his thinking about the body and embodiment; his political thought; and his contribution to contemporary aesthetics. In each case it shows the way in which Nancy develops or moves beyond some of the key concerns associated with phenomenology, post-structuralism, and what could broadly be termed the "post-modern."

Ian James is a Fellow in French and Director of Studies in Modern and Medieval Languages at Downing College, University of Cambridge. He is the author of Pierre Klossowski: The Persistence of a Name (2000).