Book of Experience

Emmanuel Falque is Professor of Philosophy and Honorary Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Catholic University of Paris, France. He has published widely in phenomenology, philosophy of religion and medieval philosophy. His most recent publications include Nothing to It (2020), The Guide to Gethsemane (2019), The Loving Struggle (2018), and Crossing the Rubicon (2016). Falque is also the founder of the rapidly growing International Network of Philosophy of Religion.

• OpeningIntroduction: Talking About Experience Part I: The Theophanic Argument, or Experience in Thought: Anselm of Canterbury 1. Of God Who Comes to Mind2. The Theophanic Argument3. The Debt for the GiftPart II: Hermeneutics and Phenomenology or the Experience of the World: Hugh and Richard of Saint-Victor 4. God an “Open Book” 5. To Live One’s Body 6. The Third Party of Love Part III: Affectivity and Spirituality or Experience in Affects: Aelred of Rievaulx and Bernard of Clairvaux 7. To Feel Oneself Fully Alive 8. Experience and Empathy 9. Openness [apérité] and FreedomEpilogue: Hold Fast to HumankindIndex

With his characteristic erudition and clarity, Emmanuel Falque draws our attention to the nature of experience by plumbing the rich resources of Christian mysticism and monastic theology. He demonstrates that experience is never simply a matter of self-knowledge or empirical inquiry; it puts us to the test, changing and transforming us. The result is a text full of wisdom and rich insight, and one of remarkable and unexpected relevance for contemporary phenomenology.