Knowing by Heart

"Knowing by Heart explores like no other the meaning of what it is to be a person. In an original and compelling phenomenological study, Steinbock traces this core meaning to an emotive center that a vast array of cultures imagine as the heart. But loving, through its contrast with hating, not only reveals the generativity of personhood. What philosophers have too easily dismissed as matters of the heart expose a rigorous ground for moral emotions and a revitalizing turn for ontology itself. This deeply important book opens phenomenology to dimensions of experience that elevate and transcend but also sustain everyday life." —Cynthia Willett, author of Interspecies Ethics

"This is a fabulous piece of work and an excellent follow-up to the author’s Moral Emotions. It places the combined body of thought among the best of what phenomenology has to offer for the study of the human condition. I highly recommend this book." —Lewis R. Gordon, author of Freedom, Justice, and Decolonization

“Would loving be the first condition of knowing, and knowing the rigorous expression of loving? In order to raise these questions, Steinbock simultaneously opens Husserlian phenomenology to Schelerian themes and provides Schelerian personalism with the refinement of Husserlian procedures. I know of no one else who could have written this book. We will be discussing its important theses for some time.” —Jeffrey Bloechl, Department of Philosophy, Boston College

“Anthony J. Steinbock’s Knowing by Heart is a masterpiece of phenomenology that shows how we fulfill our deepest humanity when loving. Reading this was a gift during the pandemic, when people have lost so many precious, intersubjective links. A book we need to reestablish trust and respect for one another.” —Natalie Depraz, author of La surprise du sujet: Un sujet cardial

“Steinbock’s writing is accessible, and he includes clarifying examples and insightful phenomenological descriptions.” —J. Donohoe, University of West Georgia, CHOICE