Giving an Account of Oneself

Review
". . .Butler's nuanced reworking of what it means to be ethically responsible to ourselves and to others is welcome indeed." -- Drucilla Cornell, Rutgers University

". . .she proposes a rethinking of responsibility in relation to the limits of self-understanding that make us human." -- Jonathan Culler, Cornell University

"A brave book by a courageous thinker." -- Hayen White, University of California and Stanford University --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
“In stunningly original interpretations of Adorno and Levinas, . . .Judith Butler compellingly demonstrates that questions of ethics
cannot avoid addressing the moral self’s complicity with violence. By laying out the premises of a creative rereading, this study
proves that the discussion of these two authors and their future legacy has, in a sense, barely begun. Butler writes in a truly Spinozistic spirit, mobilizing the greatest forces and joys of philosophical intelligence to counteract and redirect the cruelest
and most destructive of human passions. Brilliantly argued and beautifully written, Giving an Account of Oneself is destined
to become a classic, a must read for philosophers and students of present-day culture and politics alike.”

Product Description
What does it mean to lead an ethical life under vexed social and linguistic conditions? In her first extended study of moral philosophy, Judith Butler offers a provocative outline for a new ethical practice-one responsive to the need for critical autonomy yet grounded in the opacity of the human subject.

About the Author
Judith Butler is Maxine Elliot Professor of Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. The most recent of her books are Precarious Life: The Power of Mourning and Violence (Verso, 2004) and Undoing Gender (Routledge, 2004).