Felix Ó Murchadha is Professor of Philosophy at the National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. Previous books and articles include The Time of Revolution (Bloomsbury, 2013), A Phenomenology of Christian Life (2013), and ‘The Passionate Self and the Religiosity of Phenomena’ in The Journal of Speculative Philosophy (2019).

This excellent book deals with the very important theme of the genesis and diverse developments of the modern sense of self. It is very helpful in situating the topic in relation to earlier views of freedom and grace to be found in Augustinian and Pelagian orientations. Its treatments of Montaigne, pairs of modern thinkers, Descartes and Pascal, Hume and Spinoza, and then of the singular contribution of Kant, are exemplary. It is full of fresh and vigorous insights.

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1: Four Faces of the Self in the Emergence of ModernityChapter 2: Montaigne: Sceptical AlterityChapter 3: Descartes, Pascal and the Ambiguity of the SelfChapter 4: Spinoza and Hume on the Good LifeChapter 5: Desire, Aporia and Reason in KantChapter 6: Kant on the Heart, Evil and GraceConclusion

Felix Ó Murchadha is Professor of Philosophy at the National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. Previous books and articles include The Time of Revolution (Bloomsbury, 2013), A Phenomenology of Christian Life (2013), and ‘The Passionate Self and the Religiosity of Phenomena’ in The Journal of Speculative Philosophy (2019).

This excellent book deals with the very important theme of the genesis and diverse developments of the modern sense of self. It is very helpful in situating the topic in relation to earlier views of freedom and grace to be found in Augustinian and Pelagian orientations. Its treatments of Montaigne, pairs of modern thinkers, Descartes and Pascal, Hume and Spinoza, and then of the singular contribution of Kant, are exemplary. It is full of fresh and vigorous insights.

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1: Four Faces of the Self in the Emergence of ModernityChapter 2: Montaigne: Sceptical AlterityChapter 3: Descartes, Pascal and the Ambiguity of the SelfChapter 4: Spinoza and Hume on the Good LifeChapter 5: Desire, Aporia and Reason in KantChapter 6: Kant on the Heart, Evil and GraceConclusion

Felix Ó Murchadha is Professor of Philosophy at the National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. Previous books and articles include The Time of Revolution (Bloomsbury, 2013), A Phenomenology of Christian Life (2013), and ‘The Passionate Self and the Religiosity of Phenomena’ in The Journal of Speculative Philosophy (2019).

This excellent book deals with the very important theme of the genesis and diverse developments of the modern sense of self. It is very helpful in situating the topic in relation to earlier views of freedom and grace to be found in Augustinian and Pelagian orientations. Its treatments of Montaigne, pairs of modern thinkers, Descartes and Pascal, Hume and Spinoza, and then of the singular contribution of Kant, are exemplary. It is full of fresh and vigorous insights.

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1: Four Faces of the Self in the Emergence of ModernityChapter 2: Montaigne: Sceptical AlterityChapter 3: Descartes, Pascal and the Ambiguity of the SelfChapter 4: Spinoza and Hume on the Good LifeChapter 5: Desire, Aporia and Reason in KantChapter 6: Kant on the Heart, Evil and GraceConclusion