Transcendence for Beginners

Transcendence for Beginners marries a philosophy of religious life with a philosophy of the heart, and asserts Carlisle’s place as one of our most innovative thinkers.

In Transcendence for Beginners, Clare Carlisle examines life writing and philosophy across certain European and Indian traditions, exploring questions of childhood and mortality, art and religion, beauty and loss. Informed by her experience as a biographer of Sren Kierkegaard and George Eliot as well as her own life, Carlisle asks what one human existence can reveal, and how writing can transmit its truth. Intellectually stimulating and deeply moving, Transcendence for Beginners enacts a philosophy of the heart, told by a generous and compelling guide. This bold, enlivening work asserts Carlisle’s place as one of our most innovative thinkers.