My Path

This chapter explains Marion’s intellectual, cultural, and religious background and academic pathway. It provides an account of French intellectual life in the late twentieth century, including the student revolutions and the movement of the “New Philosophers.” It also discusses the contribution of several prominent French intellectuals. Marion outlines the history of the founding of the Catholic lay journal Communio and comments on the importance of several twentieth-century theologians. He also discusses the French academic system and its future.

Theology

This chapter explains the distinction between the notion of the idol and that of the icon. It evaluates the significance and meaning of the “death of God,” as announced by Nietzsche. Marion shows how and why God is beyond being and highlights the importance of the language of love. He provides a philosophical account of the erotic relation and the flesh. He also responds to the accusation of the theological turn and explains the context of this debate.

Descartes

This chapter explains the background of Marion’s work on Descartes and his interest in this philosopher. It outlines and summarizes the main arguments of all of his writings on Descartes, including the role of the important Cartesian notion of the creation of the eternal truths. Marion explains in what way Descartes’ system can be considered metaphysical and the relevance of onto-theo-logy for evaluating its metaphysical status. He also gives a brief preview of his most recent book on Descartes and provides an account of the history of the Center for Cartesian Studies in Paris. Marion shows throughout the importance of Descartes’ philosophical work and sets him in the context of other thinkers, such as Suarez, Vasquez, and Pascal.

The World as It Runs—and as It Doesn’t

In this chapter Marion discusses the problematic connotations of the term “value” especially when associated with God or morality, because “value” always depends on the evaluator. He refuses the titles of “intellectual” or Catholic “philosopher” and explains why. The chapter discusses in what way our present situation is one of nihilism and how one should respond to it. Marion argues that God is not in retreat and Catholicism not in crisis. He ends with a discussion of the relationship between Christianity and Judaism and a brief evaluation of the recent papacies.

Phenomenology

This chapter provides an introduction to and summary of all of Marion’s phenomenological work. It also gives an account of why he turned to phenomenology in the first place and what role he considers it to play philosophically. Marion explains the notion of the phenomenological reduction and the importance of the category of givenness. He responds to some of the common objections to his work (including those of Derrida and Ricoeur). He summarizes the notion of the gift and its phenomenological significance. The chapter presents the implications of a phenomenology of givenness for a notion of the self as recipient of the phenomenon. Marion also reviews the notion of the saturated phenomenon and unfolds its implications. He discusses his relation to the thought of Levinas, Henry, Lacan, and Heidegger.

A Matter of Method

In this chapter Marion distinguishes between history of philosophy and philosophy of history. He explains the importance of knowing the history of philosophy and being familiar with its central debates for rigorous philosophical work in the present. He argues for a direct relationship between great philosophers. In this context he briefly evaluates the relationship between analytical and continental philosophy. He addresses the role art, literature, and theology/religion can play in philosophical investigation. Overall, he argues for rigorous work on the phenomena as they appear and give themselves. He concludes with a brief discussion of the role of psychoanalysis.