The book is based on three lectures given at the Collegium Phaenomenologicum, Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy, on July 24, 26, and 28, 2006. I cannot thank Michael Naas enough for having invited me to present these lectures and for his friendship; he also read an earlier draft of the manuscript and made many helpful comments.
I would like to thank all the participants and faculty who were present at the 2006 Collegium, in particular, Joshua Andresen, Geoff Bennington, Peg Birmingham, Louise Burchill, Marcus Coelen, Olivia Custer, Françoise Dastur, Marc Djabbalah, Maxime Doyon, Jonathan Dronsfield, Chris Eagle, Edo Evink, Russell Ford, Kathryn Gines, Lisa Guenther, Martin Hägglund, Samir Haddad, Dana Hollander, Larry Hatab, Ryan Hellmers, Samuel Ijsseling, Mike Jonik, Peggy Kamuf, Sina Kramer, Don Landes, Rick Lee, Ken Lieberman, Paul Livingston, Bill Martin, Scott Marratto, Holly Moore, Barbara Muraca, Pat O’Connor, Jeff Pardikes, Francois Raffoul, Elizabeth Rottenberg, John Sallis, Alan Schrift, Brian Schroeder, Robert Vallier, Ben Vedder, Cory Wimberley, and David Wood.
I would also like to thank all the students in my Derrida seminar at the University of Memphis during the spring semester of 2006; certain of these students also attended the Collegium: Bryan Bannon, Cheri Carr, Erinn Gilson, and John Nale. Brien Karas, who participated in the seminar, made penetrating comments during the entire writing process, from the composition of the lectures to the revisions for the final submission of this manuscript.
Fred Evans and Zeynep Direk read an early draft of chapters 1 and 3 and offered very helpful comments. In the philosophy department at Memphis, Sarah Clark Miller provided a different viewpoint on the question of animal suffering. Ted Toadvine also made helpful comments, as did Antonio Calcagno and Diane Ens. My thanks to Fred, Zeynep, Sarah, Ted, Antonio, and Diane.
Rodolphe Gasché read an earlier draft of the manuscript and made helpful comments; I cannot thank him enough for all the support he has given me over many years.
I have presented versions of the lectures in Istanbul, Winnipeg, and Stockholm. My thanks to Elif Yavnik in Istanbul; to Dawne Macance and Lisa Muirhead at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg; and to Eric Alliez, Cathy Caruth, Leif Dahlberg, Jari Kauppinen, Jakob Nilsson, Cecilia Parsberg, Hans Ruin, Cecilia Sjöholm, Fredrika Spindler, Björn Thorsteinsson, and Sven-Olaf Wallenstein in Stockholm.
I am grateful to Wendy Lochner, who provided essential help at Columbia University Press.
As always, I must thank everyone in the philosophy department at the University of Memphis. In particular, Cathy Wilhelm was an immense help.
Finally, I must thank my family, Jennifer, Jonathan, and Casey, for their patience and support while I was writing this text.