The Truth of Žižek
Title | The Truth of Žižek PDF eBook |
Author | Paul Bowman |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
Pages | 294 |
Release | 2007-05-17 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1441119639 |
Slavoj Žižek is widely regarded as one of the world's most important contemporary thinkers. His work has contributed dramatically to the reinvention and revivification of many key theoretical and political debates. Indeed, his vociferous and challenging body of work amounts to a sustained, ground-breaking, terrain-shifting and far reaching intervention into a large number of academic disciplines, intellectual fields and cultural debates. The Truth of Žižek addresses the rigorous critical assessment demanded by this broad and increasingly influential corpus. This timely and compelling collection of essays from an international team of leading Žižekian scholars addresses the full range of Žižek's theoretical interventions, assessing critically the political, philosophical, psychoanalytical, cultural and institutional stakes of his work. Each chapter engages with and challenges Žižek's thought to explicate a key aspect of his work, clarifying its importance and challenging its claims through rigorous critique. By focusing on Žižek's contributions to these disciplines, fields and debates, this collection sets out to diagnose and assess the emergence of a ' Žižekian moment' within contemporary intellectual, cultural and political events. The Truth of Žižek provides the first sustained engagement with and assessment of the significant impact of Žižek's work. This compelling and valuable collection of essays from cutting edge scholars picks up the gauntlet thrown down by Žižek: the demand that his readers respond with 'the coldness and cruelty of true friendship.'
Philosophy in the Present
Title | Philosophy in the Present PDF eBook |
Author | Alain Badiou |
Publisher | Polity |
Pages | 117 |
Release | 2009-12-14 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 0745640974 |
Two controversial thinkers discuss a timeless but nonetheless urgent question: should philosophy interfere in the world? Nothing less than philosophy is at stake because, according to Badiou, philosophy is nothing but interference and commitment and will not be restrained by academic discipline. Philosophy is strange and new, and yet speaks in the name of all - as Badiou shows with his theory of universality. Similarly, Zizek believes that the philosopher must intervene, contrary to all expectations, in the key issues of the time. He can offer no direction, but this only shows that the question has been posed incorrectly: it is valid to change the terms of the debate and settle on philosophy as abnormality and excess. At once an invitation to philosophy and an introduction to the thinking of two of the most topical and controversial philosophers writing today, this concise volume will be of great interest to students and general readers alike.
Reading Hegel
Title | Reading Hegel PDF eBook |
Author | Slavoj Zizek |
Publisher | John Wiley & Sons |
Pages | 140 |
Release | 2021-11-30 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1509545913 |
A spirit is haunting contemporary thought – the spirit of Hegel. All the powers of academia have entered into a holy alliance to exorcize this spirit: Vitalists and Eschatologists, Transcendental Pragmatists and Speculative Realists, Historical Materialists and even ‘liberal Hegelians’. Which of these groups has not been denounced as metaphysically Hegelian by its opponents? And which has not hurled back the branding reproach of Hegelian metaphysics in its turn? Progressives, liberals and reactionaries alike receive this condemnation. In light of this situation, it is high time that true Hegelians should openly admit their allegiance and, without obfuscation, express the importance and validity of Hegelianism to the contemporary intellectual scene. To this end, a small group of Hegelians of different nationalities have assembled to sketch the following book – a book which addresses a number of pressing issues that a contemporary reading of Hegel allows a new perspective on: our relation to the future, our relation to nature and our relation to the absolute.
Less Than Nothing
Title | Less Than Nothing PDF eBook |
Author | Slavoj Zizek |
Publisher | Verso Books |
Pages | 1049 |
Release | 2012-05-22 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1844678970 |
A thousand-page resurrection of Hegel, from the bestselling philosopher and critic who has been hailed as “one of the world’s best-known public intellectuals” (New York Review of Books) For the last two centuries, Western philosophy has developed in the shadow of Hegel, an influence each new thinker struggles to escape. As a consequence, Hegel’s absolute idealism has become the bogeyman of philosophy, obscuring the fact that he is the defining philosopher of the historical transition to modernity, a period with which our own times share startling similarities. Today, as global capitalism comes apart at the seams, we are entering a new period of transition. In Less Than Nothing—the product of a career-long focus on the part of its author—Slavoj Žižek argues it is imperative we not simply return to Hegel but that we repeat and exceed his triumphs, overcoming his limitations by being even more Hegelian than the master himself. Such an approach not only enables Žižek to diagnose our present condition, but also to engage in a critical dialogue with key strands of contemporary thought—Heidegger, Badiou, speculative realism, quantum physics, and cognitive sciences. Modernity will begin and end with Hegel.
Pandemic!
Title | Pandemic! PDF eBook |
Author | Slavoj Zizek |
Publisher | John Wiley & Sons |
Pages | 79 |
Release | 2020-05-20 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 150954612X |
As an unprecedented global pandemic sweeps the planet, who better than the supercharged Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek to uncover its deeper meanings, marvel at its mind-boggling paradoxes and speculate on the profundity of its consequences? We live in a moment when the greatest act of love is to stay distant from the object of your affection. When governments renowned for ruthless cuts in public spending can suddenly conjure up trillions. When toilet paper becomes a commodity as precious as diamonds. And when, according to Žižek, a new form of communism – the outlines of which can already be seen in the very heartlands of neoliberalism – may be the only way of averting a descent into global barbarism. Written with his customary brio and love of analogies in popular culture (Quentin Tarantino and H. G. Wells sit next to Hegel and Marx), Žižek provides a concise and provocative snapshot of the crisis as it widens, engulfing us all.
The Monstrosity of Christ
Title | The Monstrosity of Christ PDF eBook |
Author | Slavoj Zizek |
Publisher | MIT Press |
Pages | 321 |
Release | 2011-02-25 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 0262265818 |
A militant Marxist atheist and a “Radical Orthodox” Christian theologian square off on everything from the meaning of theology and Christ to the war machine of corporate mafia. “What matters is not so much that Žižek is endorsing a demythologized, disenchanted Christianity without transcendence, as that he is offering in the end (despite what he sometimes claims) a heterodox version of Christian belief.”—John Milbank “To put it even more bluntly, my claim is that it is Milbank who is effectively guilty of heterodoxy, ultimately of a regression to paganism: in my atheism, I am more Christian than Milbank.”—Slavoj Žižek In this corner, philosopher Slavoj Žižek, a militant atheist who represents the critical-materialist stance against religion's illusions; in the other corner, “Radical Orthodox” theologian John Milbank, an influential and provocative thinker who argues that theology is the only foundation upon which knowledge, politics, and ethics can stand. In The Monstrosity of Christ, Žižek and Milbank go head to head for three rounds, employing an impressive arsenal of moves to advance their positions and press their respective advantages. By the closing bell, they have not only proven themselves worthy adversaries, they have shown that faith and reason are not simply and intractably opposed. Žižek has long been interested in the emancipatory potential offered by Christian theology. And Milbank, seeing global capitalism as the new century's greatest ethical challenge, has pushed his own ontology in more political and materialist directions. Their debate in The Monstrosity of Christ concerns the future of religion, secularity, and political hope in light of a monsterful event—God becoming human. For the first time since Žižek's turn toward theology, we have a true debate between an atheist and a theologian about the very meaning of theology, Christ, the Church, the Holy Ghost, Universality, and the foundations of logic. The result goes far beyond the popularized atheist/theist point/counterpoint of recent books by Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and others. Žižek begins, and Milbank answers, countering dialectics with “paradox.” The debate centers on the nature of and relation between paradox and parallax, between analogy and dialectics, between transcendent glory and liberation. Slavoj Žižek is a philosopher and cultural critic. He has published over thirty books, including Looking Awry, The Puppet and the Dwarf, and The Parallax View (these three published by the MIT Press). John Milbank is an influential Christian theologian and the author of Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason and other books. Creston Davis, who conceived of this encounter, studied under both Žižek and Milbank.
In Defense of Lost Causes
Title | In Defense of Lost Causes PDF eBook |
Author | Slavoj Žižek |
Publisher | Verso |
Pages | 540 |
Release | 2009-10-19 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1844674290 |
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