Forms of Life and Subjectivity

Once clarified with respect to its nature, structure, and reach, it [the form of life] becomes a powerful tool of analysis. Moreover, it seems to me that the form of life has met the challenge Garrido posed at the beginning, that is, to reconcile between freedom and facticity, between the individual and the social context [...] To my knowledge, few in our generation have revived Sartre’s thought to such an extent that it is again unavoidable. Equally impressive is Garrido’s diagnosis of capitalism, full of insights which are valid even outside of this book’s context [...] He carries further Jean-Paul Sartre’s reflections on freedom, agency, and the social situation, so that the (typically Sartrean) dichotomies between freedom and facticity and between the individual and the society are bridged with the notion of the form of life. The result is a powerful and illuminating account of how a human agent acts in accordance with a shared form of life with which he or she has freely identified. The structural analysis contributes, not only to our understanding of human action, but also to a critical reflection of “hegemonic” forms of life such as capitalism.