Ego, or Endowed with Oneself.

This edition presents the central chapter from the book «Instead of Oneself: Augustine's Approach» by Jean-Luc Marion, one of the greatest contemporary French philosophers. The book «Instead of Oneself» is formally a detailed commentary on the «Confessions» - perhaps the most famous text of the Christian tradition about the soul's path to God and to itself. The number of commentaries on the «Confessions» is immense, however, Marion's text strikingly differs from most of them. The book you are currently holding is not just the result of the work of a brilliant historian of philosophy, commentator, and interpreter of classical texts; it is also an imitation of Augustine, an attempt to engage the reader in the very same work of the soul that is discussed in the «Confessions». Just as Augustine's text speaks not about God, the soul, or philosophy, but is addressed to God, to the soul, and to the listener, to the «true philosopher», that is, to one who «loves God», so too is Marion's text - under the guise of a historical-philosophical interpretation - directed to God and to the reader as one who seeks God and seeks a radical change of oneself. But what does «God» mean and what does it mean to «change»? Is it possible to change oneself?