After Emerson

Whereas Emerson & Self-Culture was an extended study of many of the central themes in Emerson’s writings, After Emerson relies upon the essay form to think with and through Emerson into various topics like the nature of ethics, the self, philosophy’s relation to poetry, how to think historically, and whether one ought to philosophize as an American.

“An original and stimulating book, manifesting a level of reflection and existential concern of the highest order.” Robert E. Innis 

There is something fresh and hence refreshing in the manner in which Lysaker takes up familiar topics. He shows, with both arresting details and an evolving design, how the conduct of life … demands a form of thought frequently at odds with contemporary fashions and preoccupations, with institutionally entrenched approaches and all too rigidly policed discourses. Vincent Colapietro

“Acknowledged as one of his generations premier Emerson scholars, Lysaker goes beyond his earlier work, Emerson & Self-Culture… [T]he writing is stimulating, vibrant, challenging, risky, and fecund. Recommended.” D. B. Boersma, Choice