The Possibility of a World

In this series of interviews, Jean-Luc Nancy is invited to review his life’s work with Pierre-Philippe Jandin. But like Schlegel’s historian—“a prophet facing backwards”—Nancy takes this opportunity to rummage through the history of art, philosophy, religion, and politics in search of new possibilities that “remain to be thought.” This history of Nancy’s thought is interspersed with places and events and deeply personal details. The result is at once unpretentious and encyclopedic: concepts are described with remarkable nuance and specificity, but in a language that comes close to everyday life. As Nancy surveys his work, he thinks anew about democracy, community, jouissance, love, Christianity, and the arts. In the end, this is a book about the possibility of a world—a world that must be greeted because it is, as Nancy says, already here.