Marc De Kesel is Professor of Theology, Modernity, and Mysticism at Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He is the author of Eros and Ethics: Reading Jacques Lacan's Seminar VII, also published by SUNY Press.

"Effacing the Self examines the paradox and implications of mystical self-effacement for a modern context, bridging disciplinary divides by bringing diverse thinkers into conversation. The contemporary relevance is particularly clear in the way De Kesel considers political implications, at times stating these explicitly and other times simply gesturing toward them. His close attention to the texts—from journals and notebooks to letters and a scene from a novel—is particularly illuminating. De Kesel offers detailed interpretations of crucial passages, clearly demonstrating what is at stake at each turn, and drawing the reader in by articulating key questions throughout his investigation, inviting us to continue to wrestle with the paradox of the mystical self." — Reading Religion

• List of IllustrationsIntroductionFénelonian Promenades1. Love’s Intimate Violence: Selfless Love in Fénelon and Malebranche (and Robespierre) 2. Selfless: Eckhart, Fénelon and the Modern Subject 3. Love Thy Neighbor Purely: Mysticism and Politics in Fénelon 4. Nothing Writes: On Madame Guyon The Mystical (of the) Self5. The Power to Say I: On Simone Weil 6. ContraReligious Religion: The Mystical Experience of a Modern Protestant Minister 7. The Path of Mercy Means Simply that You Abandon Self: On a Novel by Shūsaku Endō8. As a Drop in the Ocean: Michel de Certeau’s Selfless Christianity Mysticism in a Modern World9. Down with Religion, Long Live Mysticism: Reflections on Spirituality’s Popularity 10. Selflessly Powerful: On PseudoDionysius, Agamben, and Lefort 11. Selflessness and Science: On Mysticism, Materialism, and Psychoanalysis Notes BibliographyIndex

Marc De Kesel is Professor of Theology, Modernity, and Mysticism at Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He is the author of Eros and Ethics: Reading Jacques Lacan's Seminar VII, also published by SUNY Press.

"Effacing the Self examines the paradox and implications of mystical self-effacement for a modern context, bridging disciplinary divides by bringing diverse thinkers into conversation. The contemporary relevance is particularly clear in the way De Kesel considers political implications, at times stating these explicitly and other times simply gesturing toward them. His close attention to the texts—from journals and notebooks to letters and a scene from a novel—is particularly illuminating. De Kesel offers detailed interpretations of crucial passages, clearly demonstrating what is at stake at each turn, and drawing the reader in by articulating key questions throughout his investigation, inviting us to continue to wrestle with the paradox of the mystical self." — Reading Religion

• List of IllustrationsIntroductionFénelonian Promenades1. Love’s Intimate Violence: Selfless Love in Fénelon and Malebranche (and Robespierre) 2. Selfless: Eckhart, Fénelon and the Modern Subject 3. Love Thy Neighbor Purely: Mysticism and Politics in Fénelon 4. Nothing Writes: On Madame Guyon The Mystical (of the) Self5. The Power to Say I: On Simone Weil 6. ContraReligious Religion: The Mystical Experience of a Modern Protestant Minister 7. The Path of Mercy Means Simply that You Abandon Self: On a Novel by Shūsaku Endō8. As a Drop in the Ocean: Michel de Certeau’s Selfless Christianity Mysticism in a Modern World9. Down with Religion, Long Live Mysticism: Reflections on Spirituality’s Popularity 10. Selflessly Powerful: On PseudoDionysius, Agamben, and Lefort 11. Selflessness and Science: On Mysticism, Materialism, and Psychoanalysis Notes BibliographyIndex

Marc De Kesel is Professor of Theology, Modernity, and Mysticism at Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He is the author of Eros and Ethics: Reading Jacques Lacan's Seminar VII, also published by SUNY Press.

"Effacing the Self examines the paradox and implications of mystical self-effacement for a modern context, bridging disciplinary divides by bringing diverse thinkers into conversation. The contemporary relevance is particularly clear in the way De Kesel considers political implications, at times stating these explicitly and other times simply gesturing toward them. His close attention to the texts—from journals and notebooks to letters and a scene from a novel—is particularly illuminating. De Kesel offers detailed interpretations of crucial passages, clearly demonstrating what is at stake at each turn, and drawing the reader in by articulating key questions throughout his investigation, inviting us to continue to wrestle with the paradox of the mystical self." — Reading Religion

• List of IllustrationsIntroductionFénelonian Promenades1. Love’s Intimate Violence: Selfless Love in Fénelon and Malebranche (and Robespierre) 2. Selfless: Eckhart, Fénelon and the Modern Subject 3. Love Thy Neighbor Purely: Mysticism and Politics in Fénelon 4. Nothing Writes: On Madame Guyon The Mystical (of the) Self5. The Power to Say I: On Simone Weil 6. ContraReligious Religion: The Mystical Experience of a Modern Protestant Minister 7. The Path of Mercy Means Simply that You Abandon Self: On a Novel by Shūsaku Endō8. As a Drop in the Ocean: Michel de Certeau’s Selfless Christianity Mysticism in a Modern World9. Down with Religion, Long Live Mysticism: Reflections on Spirituality’s Popularity 10. Selflessly Powerful: On PseudoDionysius, Agamben, and Lefort 11. Selflessness and Science: On Mysticism, Materialism, and Psychoanalysis Notes BibliographyIndex