When the tried oldster drew near to his last hour, having fought the good fight and kept the faith, his heart was still young enough not to have forgotten that ...

Through arresting narratives we meet a woman aiding refugees in sub-Saharan Africa, facing the chaos of a meaningless society and a doctor trying to stay alive during Mao's cultural revolution - individuals challenged by their societies and in existential moral experiences that define what it means to be human.

Derrida analyzes Patocka's Heretical Essays on the History of Philosophy and develops and compares his ideas to the works of Heidegger, Levinas, and Kierkegaard.

Preface: theme and variations -- In the footsteps of Walter Benjamin -- Of time and the river : the interface of history and human lives -- Imagining the powers that be : society versus the state -- On the work of human hands -- Storytelling events, violence, and the appearance of the past -- Migrant imaginaries : with Sewa Koroma in southeast London -- A walk on the wild side : the idea of human nature revisited -- From anxiety to (...) method : a reappraisal -- Despite Babel : an essay on human misunderstanding -- On birth, death, and rebirth -- Quandaries of belonging : home thoughts from abroad -- A critique of colonial reason. (shrink)