Becoming who we are : politics and practical philosophy in the work of Stanley Cavell

329 Pages·2017·1.82 MB·English

by  Cavell, Stanley, Norris, Andrew

Becoming Who We Are

Becoming Who We Are

Politics and Practical Philosophy
in the Work of Stanley Cavell
Andrew Norris
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Norris, Andrew, 1960– author.
Title: Becoming who we are : politics and practical philosophy in the work
of Stanley Cavell / Andrew Norris.
Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2017. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016046437 (print) | LCCN 2017009103 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190673949 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780190673970 (online course) |
ISBN 9780190673956 (updf) | ISBN 9780190673963 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Cavell, Stanley, 1926–
Classification: LCC B945.C274 N67 2017 (print) |
LCC B945.C274 (ebook) | DDC 191—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016046437
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
For my parents
Mary Cecilia Coupe Norris and Barnard Norris
in loving memory
To know
That which before us lies in daily life,
Is the prime wisdom
— Milton
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
CHAPTER 1 Ordinary Language and Philosophical Conversion 15
CHAPTER 2 Skepticism and Transcendence 49
CHAPTER 3 Community and Voice 95
CHAPTER 4 Walden and the Foundations of True Political
Expression 141
CHAPTER 5 Receiving Autonomy 177
Notes 223
Bibliography 287
Index 305

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many people have helped me in the long process of writing this book.
I owe a special debt to Stanley Cavell, who took time to read the
bulk of the manuscript, and whose comments on it displayed exemplary
care and generosity. Garrett Baer, Dan Brudney, Fabian Börchers, Tom
Dumm, Richard Eldridge, Jeremy Elkins, Bonnie Honig, Paola Marrati,
Rogers Smith, Barry Stroud, and Eric Wilson also read significant por-
tions of the manuscript and gave me extremely helpful comments. Baer
also helped me in the final preparation of the text, and I truly appreci-
ate his patient and thoughtful work. I should also like to thank William
E. Abraham, Jane Bennett, Kane Bixby, Fred Dolan, Kurt Rudolf Fischer,
Michael Geis, David Hoy, David Macarthur, Christoph Menke, Jan Müller,
Jim Noggle, Dirk Setton, Hans Sluga, Tracy Strong, Jörg Volbers, Stephen
White, my brothers and sisters, and Lucy Randall, my editor at Oxford.
About half of Chapter 4 previously appeared as “Thoreau, Cavell, and
the Foundations of True Political Expression,” in A Political Companion
to Henry David Thoreau, and I thank the University Press of Kentucky
for permission to republish those parts of it. It is a pleasure to acknowl-
edge as well the substantial assistance I have received from the University
of California, the Max-P lanck- Institut für europäische Rechtsgeschichte,
and the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften and Exzellenzcluster
“Normative Orders” of Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main. My wife
Yasemin often doubted whether this book would ever really be finished,
and I am deeply grateful to her for years of loving patience and support.
My daughters Stephanie and Cecilia have, like true transcendentalists,
helped me again and again to see the possibility and delight of the new
day, and for that I owe them more than I can say.