In this concentrated and detailed look at questions surrounding the act of sacrifice, Dennis King Keenan discusses both the role and meaning of sacrifice in our lives. Building on recent discussions on the gift and transcendence, Keenan covers new ground with this exploration of the religious and ethical issues that sacrifice entails. According to Keenan, sacrifice pays: one gets a return on one's investment; that is, one suffers to get to a moment of transcendent truth. But what does this economy of sacrifice mean for living an ethical life? Along the way to an answer, Keenan considers the views of Hegel, Schelling, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Bataille, Lacan, Levinas, Blanchot, Irigaray, Derrida, Nancy, and Zizek. Keenan's work affords a sophisticated philosophical treatment of the question of sacrifice. Dennis King Keenan, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Fairfield University, is the author of "Death and Responsibility: The "Work" of Levinas".