Transcendence for Beginners: Life Writing and Philosophy

A lyrical work of philosophy that draws from the work of Spinoza, George Eliot, biographers, memoirists, and more to examine how wisdom and goodness are transmitted by individual human lives.

Transcendence for Beginners is an innovative book about philosophy and life writing, exploring how each practice might complement the other and so contribute to a greater understanding of human existence. Reflecting on writers and thinkers from Europe and India--such as Benedict Spinoza and Soren Kierkegaard, Ramana Maharshi and Marcel Proust--Clare Carlisle examines how deep, genuine wisdom and goodness are transmitted by individual lives. She considers her own intertwined pursuits as a philosopher and a biographer, as well as her roles as a mother and a daughter. Animated by the spirit of inquiry and the desire to share its rewards, Transcendence for Beginners is a generous, enlivening work by one of today's most original thinkers.

Author: Clare Carlisle
Publisher: New York Review of Books
Published: 04/07/2026
Pages: 216
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.44h x 5.76w x 0.64d
ISBN13: 9798896230144
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Philosophers
- Philosophy | Ethics & Moral Philosophy
- Philosophy | Language

About the Author
Clare Carlisle is the author of eight books on philosophy and philosophers, including Philosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of Soren Kierkegaard and The Marriage Question: George Eliot's Double Life, which won the 2024 PEN/Jacque-line Bograd Weld Award for Biography. Carlisle grew up in Manchester, England; studied philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge; and now lives in East London. She is a professor of philosophy at King's College London.