Category Archives: Book review

Daniel Rueda Garrido (2021). Forms of Life and Subjectivity: Rethinking Sartre’s Philosophy, OpenBook Publishers, Cambridge, UK, 352 pp., ISBN 978-1-80064-219-5, $46.95 (Hardcover) $31.95 (Softcover). Book review by Renxiang Liu (Tsinghua University). Published in Journal of Phenomenological Psychology 53.2 (2022): 219-224, https://doi.org/10.1163/15691624-20221406; https://brill.com/view/journals/jpp/53/2/article-p219_7.xml. Under permission of the publisher. In Forms of Life and Subjectivity, Daniel RuedaContinue reading “Daniel Rueda Garrido: Forms of Life and Subjectivity”

George di Giovanni. Hegel and the Challenge of Spinoza: A Study in German Idealism , 1801–1831. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021. 247 pp. + xii pp. ISBN: 978-1-108-84224-2. Book review by Renxiang Liu (Tsinghua University). Published in Idealistic Studies 52.2 (2022): 107-113, https://doi.org/10.5840/idstudies2022522141. Under permission of the publisher. There have been historical accounts of GermanContinue reading “George di Giovanni: Hegel and the Challenge of Spinoza”

Terry Pinkard (2002). German Philosophy 1760-1860: The Legacy of Idealism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 393p. Book review by Renxiang Liu, originally written in Oct 2021. Many stories have been told of German Idealism, referring roughly to the philosophical movement which Kant initiated with his critical philosophy and which Hegel epitomized with his philosophical “system”. WhatContinue reading “Terry Pinkard: The Legacy of Idealism”

David Carr (1999). The Paradox of Subjectivity: The Self in the Transcendental Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 162p. Book review by Renxiang Liu, originally written in May 2021. This short book is a focused exposition of what Carr terms the “transcendental tradition” as observed in the works of Kant and Husserl. Key to this traditionContinue reading “David Carr: The Paradox of Subjectivity”

Martin Heidegger (1984). The Metaphysical Foundations of Logic. Translated by Michael Heim. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 251p. Book review by Renxiang Liu, originally written in Dec 2020. The book contains Heidegger’s Summer 1928 lectures delivered at Marburg University (GA26). Like the Winter 1925/26 lectures (GA21, Logic: The Question of Truth), they start with traditional logicContinue reading “Martin Heidegger: The Metaphysical Foundations of Logic”

Claude Romano (2015). At the Heart of Reason. Translated by Michael B. Smith and Claude Romano from Au cœur de la raison, la phénomenologie. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press. 651p. Book review by Renxiang Liu, originally written in July 2020. This is a bold work attempting to justify the original impetus of phenomenology in the face of criticismsContinue reading “Claude Romano: At the Heart of Reason”

Nicolas de Warren (2009), Husserl and the Promise of Time: Subjectivity in Transcendental Phenomenology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 322p. Book review by Renxiang Liu, originally written on Feb 2019. In this monograph, Nicolas de Warren investigates into the unifying role of time-consciousness in Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology. His research is based on Husserl’s works on theContinue reading “Nicolas de Warren: Husserl and the Promise of Time”

Frederick C. Beiser (1993). The Fate of Reason: German Philosophy from Kant to Fichte. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 410p. Book review by Renxiang Liu, originally written in Jul 2018. This book fills a lacuna in the history of philosophy at the end of the 18th Century. Kant’s influence was predominant in German philosophy duringContinue reading “Frederick Beiser: The Fate of Reason”

Emmanuel Levinas (1985). Ethics and Infinity: Conversations with Phillippe Nemo. Translated by Richard A. Cohen. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press. 126p. Book review by Renxiang Liu, originally written in March 2018. This is an interview that shows the outline of Levinas’ lifework. Levinas is very good at expressing unique ideas in dense expression, and Philippe Nemo is significantly aContinue reading “Emmanuel Levinas: Ethics and Infinity”

Hannah Arendt (2006). Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. London: Penguin. 312p. Book review by Renxiang Liu, originally written in Mar 2018. This report on the trial of Adolf Eichmann at the court of Jerusalem arouses quite a bit of uneasiness, because it not only assesses whether the trial is just,Continue reading “Hannah Arendt: Eichmann in Jerusalem”