God, Justice, Love, Beauty: Four Dialogues

"Nancy is a continental French philosopher perhaps best known, outside of circles of philosophy and theory, for his essay “ L’intrus ,” about his heart transplant, which was in a sense “adapted” by Claire Denis as a film. This little book, like“L’intrus” is very accessible. The four dialogues on the weighty topics in the title were actually dialogues with children, that took place in Montrieux. Nancy says some wonderful things about God. At one point, in answer to a child’s question, he suggests that Heaven starts very down low, down here, he says, and signals to just above the ground. This was a life-changing moment for me, to read that. And I had never really understood the lex talionis , the way in which it is meant to moderate, to limit to merely one eye, until I read this book. I reread it all the time. It is simple in the way that simplicity can hold a richness that a very intricate argument might not. It is on my desk right now, in fact."