A presentation by
Emanuele Coccia, philosopher
EHESS, Paris – NYU Visiting Professor
Followed by a conversation with
Eugenio Refini, NYU
On the occasion of his visiting professorship at NYU in Spring 2025, Italian philosopher and EHESS Professor Emanuele Coccia joins NYU Professor Eugenio Refini for a conversation around the concept of metamorphosis across philosophy and literature. In his 2021 book, Metamorphoses, Coccia sees metamorphosis not just as a biological process, but as the fundamental force that binds all life together. Challenging the rigid boundaries between species, the living and the non-living, and even human identity, Coccia presents a visionary perspective in which life is an ever-changing continuum, where transformation is not the exception but the rule. His book invites readers to reconsider existence as deeply interconnected, revealing a world in which every form of life is a continuation of those that came before. To what extent does this approach to metamorphosis speak to relevant concerns in the production and study of literary discourse?
Emanuele Coccia is a philosopher and Associate Professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. He received his PhD in Florence and was formerly an Assistant Professor of History of Philosophy in Freiburg, Germany. He is the author of La Vie sensible, The Life of Plants, Métamorphoses and Philosophie de la maison. His books in Italy are published by Bruno Mondadori, il Mulino, and Einaudi, among others. He recently participated in the making of animated videos, such as Quercus (2020, with Formafantasma), Heaven in Matter (2021, with Faye Formisano) and The Portal of Mysteries (2022, with Dotdotdot). In 2019 he took part in the “Trees” exhibition held at the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art in Paris. He edited the catalogue for the 23rd Triennale di Milano, Unknown Unknowns: An Introduction to Mysteries.
Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo`
New York University
February 24, 2025