There are few topics more central to philosophical discussions than the meaning of being, and few thinkers offer a more compelling and original vision of that meaning than Edith Stein (1891–1942). Stein’s magnum opus, drawing from her decades working with the early phenomenologists and intense years as a student and translator of medieval texts, lays out a grand vision, bringing together phenomenological and scholastic insights into an integrated whole. The sheer scope of Stein’s project in Finite and Eternal Being is daunting, and the text can be challenging to navigate. In this book, Sarah Borden Sharkey provides a guide to Stein’s great final philosophical work and intellectual vision. The opening essays give an overview of Stein’s method and argument, and they place Finite and Eternal Being both within its historical context and in relation to contemporary discussions. The author also provides clear, detailed summaries of each section of Stein’s opus, drawing from the latest scholarship on Stein’s manuscript. Edith Stein’s Finite and Eternal Being: A Companion offers a unique guide, opening up Stein’s grand cathedral-like vision of the meaning of being as the unfolding of meaning.
Although still unpublished when Edith Stein was killed in Auschwitz, Stein’s philosophical magnum opus was finally published in a complete form in 2009 and recently re-translated into English. This guide provides a sure-footed introduction to Stein’s vision of the meaning of being, including contextual essays and a detailed synopsis.
