"In these exceptionally complex, wide-ranging lectures written for a 197576 course, Derrida takes very seriously Nietzsche's warning to 'beware . . . saying that death is opposed to life' . . . . Essential." * Choice * "Translated . . . with unparalleled grace and rigor. * Philosophy Today * "One of Derridas most challenging and urgently relevant seminars. * Style * "Daring and wide-ranging. * Research in Phenomenology * Derridas 1975-76 seminar, Life Death, is surely one of his greatest achievements. It begins with a deconstructive reading of Franēois Jacobs Logic of the Living, advancing to a critique of scientific models in general. It then takes up Nietzsches notions of life and the living in terms of both biography and biology. Finally, it reads Freuds Beyond the Pleasure Principle in an exciting and challenging way. The translation by Pascale-Anne Brault and Michael Naas is reliable and eminently readable. -- David Farrell Krell, author of The Sea: A Philosophical Encounter This is a splendid translation of one of Derridas most challenging seminars, one that relates, in unprecedented ways, the vocabulary and concepts of historical and contemporary biology and genetics with selected and relevant works of Marx, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Freud. -- Dawne McCance, author of The Reproduction of Life Death: Derrida's La Vie la Mort "This one is lucid and rich, with sparing translators interventions . . . to see even republished material within its original scene is exciting. So too proves the book as a whole." * The Heythrop Journal *