In Praise of Risk - by Anne Dufourmantelle (Paperback)

About the Book

The original French edition of this work achieved worldwide attention when its author died trying to save two children caught in a riptide. Weaving psychoanalytic case studies together with philosophical reflections, the text shows how risk is an essential property of life.

Book Synopsis

This book, whose original French edition achieved worldwide attention when its author died trying to save two children caught in a riptide, challenges the psychic work the modern world devotes to avoiding risk. Weaving psychoanalytic case studies together with philosophical reflections, Dufourmantelle shows how risk is an essential property of life, one that requires our embrace.

From the Back Cover

"To live is to accept a certain degree of risk--the risk of hairline disappointments, of a too forceful will to believe, of brusque rejections that fatigue the soul, of being misunderstood yet again, of being undone without ever being saved. We could venture the idiom 'life goes on' either with cynicism and despair or with desire. Anne Dufourmantelle's beautiful book places us on the side of life and love, showing us the power of psychoanalytic reflection on those moments when we are asked to find the courage to risk ourselves on behalf of the other."--Jamieson Webster, author of Conversion Disorder

"Magisterial. Dufourmantelle shows how life is universalized in risk and how recognizing this fact means enlisting in a fraternity among humans."--Antonio Negri

When Anne Dufourmantelle drowned in a heroic attempt to save two children caught in rough seas, obituaries around the world rarely failed to recall that she was the author of a book entitled In Praise of Risk, a trenchant critique of the psychic work the modern world devotes to avoiding risk.

Yet this is not a book on how to die but on how to live, since, for Dufourmantelle, risk entails an encounter not with an external threat to life but with something hidden in life. She therefore turns to clinical case histories that examine the ordinary fears, traumas, and resistances we face every day: personal experiences that brush up against such broader concerns as terrorism, insurance, addiction, artistic creation, and political revolution.

Working to dislodge Western philosophy, psychoanalysis, ethics, and politics from the redemptive logic of sacrifice, Dufourmantelle discovers the kernel of a future beyond annihilation where one might least expect to find it, hidden in the unconscious.

Anne Dufourmantelle, philosopher and psychoanalyst, taught at the European Graduate School. Her books in English include Power of Gentleness, Blind Date, and, with Jacques Derrida, Of Hospitality.

Steven Miller directs the Center for Psychoanalysis and Culture at the University at Buffalo, SUNY.

Review Quotes

. . . In Praise of Risk, defies classification. It is not an ordinary philosophical or psychoanalytic study but an extremely original mixture of the two.-- "Sofia Philosophical Review"

. . . Anne Dufourmantelle's In Praise of Risk makes a number of careful interventions related to the notion of risk, intercut with narratives of her own sessions as an analyst.-- "Cultural Critique"

Magisterial. Dufourmantelle shows how life is universalized in risk and how recognizing this fact means enlisting in a fraternity among humans.---Antonio Negri

To live is to accept a certain degree of risk--the risk of hairline disappointments, of a too forceful will to believe, of brusque rejections that fatigue the soul, of being misunderstood yet again, of being undone without ever being saved. We could venture the idiom 'life goes on' with cynicism or despair, but we could also do so with the measure of desire. Anne Dufourmantelle's beautiful book places us on the side of life and love, showing us the power of psychoanalytic reflection on those moments when we are asked to find the courage to risk ourselves on behalf of the other.---Jamieson Webster, author of Conversion Disorder

This very rich book will have enormous appeal for readers interested in the intersection of philosophy, psychology, psychoanalysis, and humanistic inquiry. It productively challenges the assumptions of all these disciplines in novel ways and offers, in the final analysis, a redemptive path through that which matters to us most: living and dying well. Highly recommended.-- "Choice"

About the Author

Anne Dufourmantelle (Author)
Anne Dufourmantelle, philosopher and psychoanalyst, taught at the European Graduate School and wrote monthly columns for the Paris newspaper Libération. Her books in English include Power of Gentleness: Meditations on the Risk of Being; Blind Date: Sex and Philosophy; and, with Jacques Derrida, Of Hospitality.

Steven Miller (Translator)
Steven Miller is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Center for Psychoanalysis and Culture at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. He is author of War After Death: On Violence and Its Limits and translator of books by Jean- Luc Nancy, Catherine Malabou, and Étienne Balibar.