Much discussed and debated among European philosophers, the philosophy of the alien and alien experience has been largely unavailable to English-language readers. Elegantly translated by Alexander Kozin and Tanja Stähler, Phenomenology of the Alien (Grundmotive einer Phänomenologie des Fremden) by Bernhard Waldenfels, the founder of phenomenological xenology, introduces essential concepts and questions that have defined the study of the alien. Waldenfels's patient and rigorous approach delineates the structure of the alien experience and asks how the alien can be analyzed and described without eliminating its alien character. Waldenfels shows the experience of the alien to be a multifaceted and multidimensional phenomenon that permeates our everyday experiences of the lifeworld with immediate implications for the ways we conduct our social, political, and ethical affairs. With impressive erudition Waldenfels weaves in various xenological themes from classical philosophy, contemporary phenomenology, literature, linguistics, sociology, and anthropology to address the boundaries of experience that unite and separate human beings, their collectives, their perceptions, and their aspirations. Phenomenology of the Alien brings readers to the forefront of phenomenological thought, outlining its major directions and offering-rich insights for-future-inquiry. Bernhard Waldenfels is a professor emeritus at the Ruhr-Universität in Bochum, where he leads a working group on phenomenology. He is the author of twenty-six books, including Order in the Twilight (1996), available in English.

Book jacket.