Sex and death : a reappraisal of human mortality /

Clack (Oxford Brookes Univ.) argues that the traditional Western philosophical view that prioritizes transcendence over immanence results in a perception of human life that is relatively meaningless and does not reflect what it means to be human. She locates the meaning and value of life in recognizing that "we reproduce by sexual intercourse, and that we are mutable, fleshy beings who will ultimately die." This focus on the immanence of human life leads to an understanding of its value as coming not from beyond physical existence, but from within physical existence. Clack provides critical rereadings of Plato, Augustine, Sartre, Beauvoir, Freud, the Marquis de Sade, and Seneca. She argues that critically read insights from Freud, Sade, and Seneca can begin to move us toward a model of human life that values physical life. The text concludes by analyzing popular representations of the immanence/transcendence conundrum. Clack's reading of Chuck Palahniuk's novel Fight Club (1996) works well because it contextualizes the significance of her arguments by connecting them to popular culture. Ultimately she argues for the therapeutic value of philosophy and its potential to be "grounded in human intimacy and relationship." Clack's arguments and readings of traditional and nontraditional philosophical figures are interesting, careful, and insightful. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates, and above. N. A. McHugh Wittenberg University