Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
by Catherine Belsey
from Oxford University Press, USA
Poststructuralism changes the way we understand the relations between human beings, their culture, and the world. Following a brief account of the historical relationship between structuralism and poststructuralism, this Very Short Introduction traces the key arguments that have led poststructuralists to challenge traditional theories of language and culture. While the author discusses such well-known figures as Barthes, Foucault, Derrida, and Lacan, she also draws pertinent examples from literature, art, film, and popular culture, unfolding the poststructuralist account of what it means to be a human being.
Structuralism and Poststructuralism For Beginners
from For Beginners
“In its less dramatic versions,” writes author Dan Palmer, “structuralism is just a method of studying language, society, and the works of artists and novelists. But in its most exuberant form, it is a philosophy, an overall worldview that provides an account of reality and knowledge.” Poststructuralism is a loosely knit intellectual movement, comprised mainly of ex-structuralists who either became dissatisfied with the theory or felt they could improve it. Structuralism and Poststructuralism For Beginners is an illustrated tour through the mysterious landscape of these two theories. The book’s starting point is the linguistic theory of Ferdinand de Saussure. The book moves on to the anthropologist and literary critic Claude Levi-Strauss; the semiologist and literary critic Roland Barthes; the Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser; the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan; the deconstructionist Jacques Derrida. The book concludes by examining the postmodern obsession with language and with the radical claim of the disappearance of the individual–obsessions that unite the work of all of these theorists.
An Introduction to Contemporary Metaethics
by Alex Miller
from Polity
This introduction provides a highly readable critical overview of the main arguments and themes in twentieth-century and contemporary metaethics. It traces the development of contemporary debates in metaethics from their beginnings in the work of G. E. Moore up to the most recent arguments between naturalism and non-naturalism, cognitivism and non-cognitivism.
* A highly readable critical overview of the main arguments and themes in twentieth century and contemporary metaethics.
* Asks: Are there moral facts? Is there such a thing as moral truth? Is moral knowledge possible?
* Traces the development of contemporary debates in metaethics from their beginnings in the work of G. E. Moore up to the most recent debates between naturalism and non-naturalism, cognitivism and noncognitivism.
* Provides for the first time a critical survey of famous figures in twentieth century metaethics such as Moore, Ayer and Mackie together with in-depth discussions of contemporary philosophers such as Blackburn, Gibbard, Wright, Harman, Railton, Sturgeon, McDowell and Wiggins.
Derrida's Bible: (R a Page of Scripture with a Little Help from Derrida) (Religion/Culture/Critique)
from Palgrave Macmillan
The Discourse of the Syncope: Logodaedalus (Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics)
Jaques Derrida: Basic Writings
by Barry Stocker
from Routledge
One of the most influential and controversial thinkers of the twentieth-century, Jacques Derrida’s ideas on deconstruction have had a lasting impact on philosophy, literature and cultural studies.
Jacques Derrida: Basic Writings is the first anthology to present his most important philosophical writings and is an indispensable resource for all students and readers of his work. Barry Stocker’s clear and helpful introductions set each reading in context, making the volume an ideal companion for those coming to Derrida’s writings for the first time. The selections themselves range from his most infamous working including Speech and Phenomena and Writing and Difference to lesser known discussion on aesthetics, ethics and politics.
Philosophy and Post-Structuralist Theory: From Kant to Deleuze
by Claire Colebrook
from Edinburgh University Press
Exploring the Kantian and phenomenological background of Derrida, Deleuze, Foucault, and Irigaray, this book raises some key questions and issues in critical theory. Is it still possible to sustain a transcendental critical project? How do such projects fare in the current terrain of cultural studies and anti-representationalism?
Deconstruction and Reconstruction: The Central European Pragmatist Forum, Vol. 2 (Value Inquiry Book Series 156) (Value Inquiry Book)
from Rodopi
The essays in this volume are from the Second Conference of the Central European Pragmatist Forum, held in Krakow, Poland in 2002. Written by prominent specialists in pragmatism and American philosophy from the United States and Europe, they survey contemporary thinking on classical and contemporary pragmatism, social and political theory, ethics, aesthetics, experience, knowledge, rationality, metaphysics, and the application of pragmatist thought in contemporary Europe.
Metamorphoses: Towards a Materialist Theory of Becoming (Short Introductions)
by Rosi Braidotti
from Polity
The discussions about the ethical, political and human implications of the postmodernist condition have been raging for longer than most of us care to remember. They have been especially fierce within feminism. After a brief flirtation with postmodern thinking in the 1980s, mainstream feminist circles seem to have turned their back on the staple notions of poststructuralist philosophy. Metamorphoses takes stock of the situation and attempts to reset priorities within the poststructuralist feminist agenda.
Cross-referring in a creative way to Deleuze's and Irigaray's respective philosophies of difference, the book addresses key notions such as embodiment, immanence, sexual difference, nomadism and the materiality of the subject. Metamorphoses also focuses on the implications of these theories for cultural criticism and a redefinition of politics. It provides a vivid overview of contemporary culture, with special emphasis on technology, the monstrous imaginary and the recurrent obsession with 'the flesh' in the age of techno-bodies.
This highly original contribution to current debates is written for those who find changes and transformations challenging and necessary. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of philosophy, feminist theory, gender studies, sociology, social theory and cultural studies.
Structuralism
by John Sturrock
from Wiley-Blackwell
John Sturrock's classic explication of Structuralism represents the most succinct and balanced survey available of a major critical movement associated with the thought of such key figures as Levi-Strauss, Foucault, Barthes, Lacan and Althusser theory.
* A classic work in literary and cultural theory.
* Reissued to coincide with calls for a return to structuralism.
* Includes a new introduction by Jean-Michel Rabate, which explores developments in the reception of structuralist theory in the past five to ten years.
John Sturrocks classic explication of Structuralism represents the most succinct and balanced survey available of a major critical movement associated with the thought of such key figures as Levi-Strauss, Foucault, Barthes, Lacan and Althusser. Originally celebrated for the way it negotiated a reasoned way between what were extremely impassioned factions of evangelists and their opponents, the book still offers the best and most readily accessible account of the subject.As critics now prove to be increasingly eager to reappraise Structuralism, this edition, with a new introduction by the leading contemporary French theorist, Jean-Michel Rabate, could not be more timely or convenient for the student of critical or literary theory.
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