Building on a hermeneutic tradition in which accounts of carnal embodiment are overlooked, misunderstood, or underdeveloped, this work initiates a new field of study and concern. Carnal Hermeneutics provides a philosophical approach to the body as interpretation. Transcending the traditional dualism of rational understanding and embodied sensibility, the volume argues that our most carnal sensations are already interpretations. Because interpretation truly goes "all the way down," carnal hermeneutics rejects the opposition of language to sensibility, word to flesh, text to body. In this volume, an impressive array of today's preeminent philosophers seek to interpret the surplus of meaning that arises from our carnal embodiment, its role in our experience and understanding, and its engagement with the wider world.
"Certain dualities, spirit vs. body, idea vs. sensation, self vs. the world, etc., have long dominated, often injuriously, much Western thinking. In this remarkable volume, the editors, along with some of the most important voices in the Continental tradition, allow hermeneutics to go all the way down and in so doing move beyond these dualities by taking more seriously the 'surplus of meaning aris
Seattle University
"Richard Kearney and Brian Treanor have assembled a remarkable collection of essays by important recent philosophers devoted to the surprising intersection of carnal and hermeneutics -the body as interpreter as well as interpreted. The British, French and American authors explore the existential, environmental and religious implications of a philosophy of the body."
Emory University
"Carnal Hermeneutics brings together essays from some of the most prominent philosophers writing today. These excellent essays challenge us to think through the body in every sense. This collection makes an important contribution to philosophy of embodiment. The very idea of carnal hermeneutics is breath-taking."
