Conditions Handsome and Unhandsome: The Constitution of Emersonian Perfectionism: The Carus Lectures, 1988 [Paperback]

In these three lectures, Cavell situates Emerson at an intersection of three crossroads: a place where both philosophy and literature pass; where the two traditions of English and German philosophy shun one another; where the cultures of America and Europe unsettle one another.

Cavell's 'readings' of Wittgenstein and Heidegger and Emerson and other thinkers surely deepen our understanding of them, but they do much more: they offer a vision of what life can be and what culture can mean. . . . These profound lectures are a wonderful place to make [Cavell's] acquaintance. —Hilary Putnam

Stanley Cavellteaches philosophy at Harvard University. He is the author ofIn Quest of the Ordinary, This New Yet Unapproachable America,andThemes Out of School, all published by the University of Chicago Press.

Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: Staying the Course
1. Aversive Thinking
Emersonian Representations in Heidegger and Nietzsche
2. The Argument of the Ordinary
Scenes of Instruction in Wittgenstein and in Kripke
3. The Conversation of Justice
Rawls and the Drama of Consent
Epilogue
Appendix A: Hope against Hope
Appendix B: A Cover Letter
Bibliography