"Beautifully written... advances scholarship on Marion, and offers a sustained and critical analysis of two weaknesses in Marion's phenomenology." -Tamsin Jones, author of A Genealogy of Marion's Philosophy of Religion
The philosophical work of Jean-Luc Marion has opened new ways of speaking about religious convictions and experiences. In this exploration of Marion's philosophy and theology, Christina M. Gschwandtner presents a comprehensive and critical analysis of the ideas of saturated phenomena and the phenomenology of givenness. She claims that these phenomena do not always appear in the excessive mode that Marion describes and suggests instead that we consider degrees of saturation. Gschwandtner covers major themes in Marion's work-the historical event, art, nature, love, gift and sacrifice, prayer, and the Eucharist. She works within the phenomenology of givenness, but suggests that Marion himself has not considered important aspects of his philosophy.
"Christina M. Gschwandtner has established herself as a valued reader of contemporary French philosophy in general and of Marion's writings in particular. She was the first to consider at length Marion's extensive reflections on Descartes and to evaluate their theological importance, and she has translated two of Marion's books from the French. This new study, Degrees of Givenness, extends her contribution to our understanding of this fecund philosopher." - Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Christina M. Gschwandtner is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University. She is author of Reading Jean-Luc Marion: Exceeding Metaphysics (IUP, 2007).

The philosophical work of Jean-Luc Marion has opened new ways of speaking about religious convictions and experiences. In this exploration of Marion's philosophy and theology, Christina M. Gschwandtner presents a comprehensive and critical analysis of the ideas of saturated phenomena and the phenomenology of givenness. She claims that these phenomena do not always appear in the excessive mode that Marion describes and suggests instead that we consider degrees of saturation. Gschwandtner covers major themes in Marion's workthe historical event, art, nature, love, gift and sacrifice, prayer, and the Eucharist. She works within the phenomenology of givenness, but suggests that Marion himself has not considered important aspects of his philosophy.

Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations of Works by Jean-Luc Marion
Introduction: Givenness, Saturated Phenomena, Negative Certainties, and Hermeneutics
1. Historical Events and Historical Research
2. Art and the Artist
3. Nature and Flesh
4. Love and Violence
5. Gift and Sacrifice
6. Prayer and Sainthood
7. Eucharist and Sacrament
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index