This work was made possible, in part, by a sabbatical leave (academic year 1999– 2000) and summer research stipends (1996 and 1998) from Fairfield University. Portions of this work have appeared earlier in altered form in journals: a version of chapter 2 appeared as “Kristeva, Mimesis, and Sacrifice,” in Philosophy Today, David Pellauer, editor; a version of chapter 4 appeared as “Nietzsche and the Eternal Return of Sacrifice,” in Research in Phenomenology, John Sallis, editor; a version of chapter 6 appeared as “Irigaray and the Sacrifice of the Sacrifice of Woman,” in Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, Hilde Lindemann, editor; and a version of chapter 10 appeared as “The Sacrifice of the Eucharist,” in The Heythrop Journal: A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, M. J. Walsh, editor. I am grateful to the editors for permission to use these materials here. I am also grateful to John Cayer of the DiMenna-Nyselius Library at Fairfield University for locating a number of references through interlibrary loan.