Early Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy offers a lucid and engaging introduction to the major works of French and German philosophy in the first half of the century. Leonard Lawlor takes as his starting point the original publication of Bergson's Introduction to Metaphysics in 1903, and his endpoint as the original publication Foucault's The Thought of the Outside in 1966. Lawlor interprets key texts by major figures in the continental tradition, such as Bergson and Foucault, as well as Freud, Heidegger, Husserl, and Merleau-Ponty. Taken together, his assessment of these figures illustrates the major theoretical trends of the time―immanence, difference, multiplicity, and the overcoming of metaphysics.
"This book will function well as an introduction to continental philosophy (and should be so used)… Lawlor has clearly and forcefully articulated the central driving impulse behind continental philosophy."
Philosophy in Review
"Overall, this is an outstanding book that will serve as a fine supplement (and guide) to important primary texts in early twentieth-century continental philosophy. However, it will also be of great interest to scholars in this area due to the tendentious reframing agenda and the copious scholarly notes that append each chapter. This book would serve as an interesting supplemental text for a cours
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
"[This] book reminds us that the historicity of thought entails that the philosopher never starts from scratch, and that the future is critically and creatively opened up only by way of engaging with the past. Lawlor thus resolves this tension by conceiving of continental philosophy as a project which calls on us to reflect on its past so as to participate in the creation of its future."
