ALEXANDRE JOLLIEN, who is the first and only major thinker and spiritual teacher in the history of philosophy to have been born with cerebral palsy, tells the story of how he grew up in a home for the severely disabled and was destined to roll cigars; how he discovered philosophy, which changed his life forever, helping him to confront his fate, endow it with meaning, and turn his disability into a source of strength and creative energy; how, against all odds, he fought his way out of the home and into high school and university, where as an undergraduate he wrote In Praise of Weakness ... Imbued with human warmth and wisdom, this modern Socratic dialogue is a poignant testament to the inestimable value of friendship, the power of imagination, and the will to overcome. A book that inspires and gives courage.

Auszug. � Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

In Praise of Weakness

By Alexandre Jollien, Michael Eskin

Upper West Side Philosophers, Inc.

about this book, 
dedication, 
foreword, 
on the characters in this book, 
author's note, 
prologue, 
one too many somersaults, 
the strange creature that I am, 
giving meaning to reality, 
the sincerity of true kindness, 
embracing our condition, 
drawing strength from our weakness, 
pity anesthetizes, 
the other's gaze, 
the joy of being alive, 
they talked and analyzed, 
culture shock, 
conditional happiness, 
a man of god, 
a craving for learning, 
genuine friends, 
marginal?, 
about the authors, 
also by alexandre jollien, 
available & forthcoming from uwsp,

CHAPTER 1

one too many somersaults

ALEXANDRE: Socrates?

SOCRATES: Indeed, I am.

ALEXANDRE: Greetings, Socrates!

SOCRATES: Greetings? What is it that you want?

ALEXANDRE: To tell you ... how extremely grateful I am.

SOCRATES: What for? What have I done for you?

ALEXANDRE: You have given me the greatest of gifts!

SOCRATES: Have we met before?

ALEXANDRE: In a certain sense.

SOCRATES: Now you are making me curious.

ALEXANDRE: If you are not in too much of a hurry ...

SOCRATES: I have all the time in the world! Go ahead ... unless, that is, you don't like talking.

ALEXANDRE: Well, then, allow me to introduce myself: my name is Alexandre. I am twenty-three years old, and I am majoring in philosophy at the university.

SOCRATES: So far, nothing out of the ordinary.

ALEXANDRE: Still ...

SOCRATES: Back to your story, then. Proceed with confidence!

ALEXANDRE: As I said, I am twenty-three, and I have embarked on the study of philosophy.

SOCRATES: Go on, step by step. Tell me everything. Stick to the facts and try not to digress. If need be, I will ask the necessary questions. First, tell me about your childhood.

ALEXANDRE: Where to begin? I saw the light of day on November 26, 1975, in a little Swiss village that I had to leave almost immediately. A birth accident wrested me from my family, forcing my parents to put me in a specialized institution — `would-be specialized' is probably more accurate. There, I had ...

SOCRATES: Let's not get ahead of ourselves! What birth accident?

ALEXANDRE: Athetosis.

SOCRATES: Can you be more specific!

ALEXANDRE: As you can see, I have great difficulty controlling my movements, my gait is unsteady, and I speak slowly. These are the long-term effects of a particular form of asphyxiation that goes by the scientific name of `athetosis'.

SOCRATES: And what was the cause of it?

ALEXANDRE: Turning one too many somersaults in my mother's womb, I got my neck all tangled up in the umbilical cord ... You are looking at the fallout now.

My birth transpired in a frenzied atmosphere. My mother told me that what she saw emerging from her womb was a baby that was completely black and did not cry. "Is he dead?" she screamed. "No," the midwife replied, "but we don't know if he'll make it." For a brief moment, the baby fixed its mother's tired gaze, and then they were separated. I was taken to a hospital where I received cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

SOCRATES: Your last chance?

ALEXANDRE: More like my first and only chance! To my mother, the word `resuscitation' meant hope. Deprived of her newborn, she stubbornly insisted with the attending medical staff: "He must live, he must live, no matter how — so long as he lives!" As fate would have it, her wish was granted. Ten days later, she was holding a magnificent baby in her arms. The doctors abstained from making any prognoses about the infant's development. But that didn't matter; her child was alive.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from In Praise of Weakness by Alexandre Jollien, Michael Eskin. Copyright � 1999 �ditions du Cerf. Excerpted by permission of Upper West Side Philosophers, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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