Prolegomena to Charity

by Jean-Luc Marion, Stephen E. Lewis (Translator)

In seven essays that draw from metaphysics, phenomenology, literature, Christological theology, and Biblical exegesis,Marion sketches several prolegomena to a future fuller thinking and saying of love’s paradoxical reasons, exploring evil, freedom, bedazzlement, and the loving gaze; crisis, absence, and knowing.

Genres: Philosophy, Theology, Religion, Love, Christianity

178 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Jean-Luc Marion is a French philosopher and Catholic theologian whose work bridges phenomenology, modern philosophy, and theology. A former student of Jacques Derrida, he studied at the University of Nanterre, the Sorbonne, and the École normale supérieure under Derrida, Louis Althusser, and Gilles Deleuze, while privately exploring theology with figures such as Louis Bouyer, Jean Daniélou, Henri de Lubac, and Hans Urs von Balthasar. His early academic career included assistant lectureships at the Sorbonne and a doctorate completed in 1980, after which he taught at the University of Poitiers and later directed philosophy programs at the University Paris X – Nanterre and the University of Paris IV (Sorbonne). Marion has also held visiting and endowed professorships at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he served as John Nuveen Professor and later as Andrew Thomas and Grace McNichols Greeley Professor of Catholic Studies, retiring in 2022. Elected to the Académie Française in 2008, he delivered the 2014 Gifford Lectures at the University of Glasgow and has received numerous honors including the Premio Joseph Ratzinger, the Karl Jaspers Prize, and the Grand Prix de philosophie de l’Académie française. Marion’s philosophical contributions focus on the concept of givenness, radicalizing phenomenology to explore the “saturated phenomenon,” which exceeds the capacities of cognition, and examining love through intentionality, inspired by Emmanuel Levinas. His major works include God Without Being, Réduction et donation, Étant donné, and Du surcroît, addressing idolatry, love, the gift, and the limits of perception. Marion’s thought has deeply influenced contemporary debates in philosophy of religion, phenomenology, and theology, emphasizing how phenomena show themselves prior to consciousness, how love implicates the invisible other, and how the gift and givenness constitute the foundational conditions for understanding being, knowledge, and relationality.

Reviews

[Joe Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marion still doing theology (before his turn to doing phenomenology almost exclusively): to die for.

[Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just decided, out of the blue, to read this casually, and I still find it very comprehensive and compelling. Love is as love does, indeed.

[Matt K · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Easter innovates, and does so radically. Either Christ no longer has any importance on this day, or 'he brought all newness in bringing himself, who was announced in advance; for what was announced in advance was exactly this: that Newness would come to renew and revive man' (Irenaeus). The innovation has a name - Christ - and a function - to render man new, as well as all the things of life "

[Yeast · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of Marion's early writings prior to God Without Being. Lucid and candid prose with phenomenological twist (rather than jargons). Nietzsche, Husserl, and Heidegger are more or less cheerful guests rather than looming ghosts in the party. All is good.