Is There Life Before Death? On Agata Bielik Robson’s Another Finitude

Abstract

Preview: /Review: Agata Bielik-Robson, Another Finitude: Messianic Vitalism and Philosophy (London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2019), 312 pages./ Since Nietzsche announced (or prophesied) the death of God, thinkers who took his words seriously have been dealing with one crucial question: how to live a life stripped of any references to transcendent divinity? Are we to mourn God’s death indefinitely? Will we finally acknowledge and embrace our status of finite and contingent creatures? In her recent book titled Another Finitude Agata Bielik Robson addresses these questions. While this is certainly not the first time she has tackled such issues, this study displays the kind of determination, clarity and subtlety that makes it truly exceptional. Further, Bielik-Robson’s style is compelling, precise, yet fluent; it boasts a highly affirmative tone.