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Transcendence for Beginners

Brief Description
In Transcendence for Beginners, Clare Carlisle examines life writing and philosophy across certain European and Indian traditions, exploring questions of childhood and mortality, art and religion, beauty and loss. Informed by her experience as a biographer of Søren Kierkegaard and George Eliot as well as her... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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Transcendence for Beginners marries a philosophy of religious life with a philosophy of the heart, and asserts Carlisle's place as one of our most innovative thinkers.

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In Transcendence for Beginners, Clare Carlisle examines life writing and philosophy across certain European and Indian traditions, exploring questions of childhood and mortality, art and religion, beauty and loss. Informed by her experience as a biographer of Søren Kierkegaard and George Eliot as well as her own life, Carlisle asks what one human existence can reveal, and how writing can transmit its truth. Intellectually stimulating and deeply moving, Transcendence for Beginners enacts a philosophy of the heart, told by a generous and compelling guide. This bold, enlivening work asserts Carlisle's place as one of our most innovative thinkers.


Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781804271957

Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 11 September 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Fitzcarraldo Editions

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 125.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 184

About the Author

Clare Carlisle is Professor of Philosophy at King's College London, and the author of eight books on philosophy and philosophers, including Philosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of Søren Kierkegaard and most recently The Marriage Question: George Eliot's Double Life. She grew up in Manchester, studied Philosophy and Theology at Trinity College, Cambridge, and now lives in East London.


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  • Spinoza's Religion
    Spinoza is widely regarded as either a God-forsaking atheist or a God-intoxicated pantheist, but Clare Carlisle says that he was neither. In Spinoza's Religion, she sets out a bold interpretation of Spinoza through a lucid new reading of his masterpiece, the Ethics. Putting the question of religion centre-stage but refusing to convert Spinozism to Christianity, Carlisle reveals that "being in...
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