Towards a Critical Existentialism
Truth, Relevance and Politics
Published on 31. May 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
264 pages
978-1-3995-0833-9 (ISBN)
Description
Jeffrey Bell argues that a motivating problematic for existentialist writers is the attempt to think through the implications of the problematic nature of life.
He applies a Deleuzian theory of problems to an analysis of some key concepts in contemporary social and political theory. Building on the metaphysics of problems set out in his book, An Inquiry into Analytic-Continental Metaphysics, he provides a new way of integrating the concerns of existentialist writers into contemporary political and social debates.
He applies a Deleuzian theory of problems to an analysis of some key concepts in contemporary social and political theory. Building on the metaphysics of problems set out in his book, An Inquiry into Analytic-Continental Metaphysics, he provides a new way of integrating the concerns of existentialist writers into contemporary political and social debates.
Reviews / Votes
In this profound and original reflection on our current situation, Jeff Bell draws upon a wealth of social scientific research and an astonishing variety of philosophical resources, from Hume, Russell, and Wittgenstein to Kierkegaard, Camus, and Deleuze, to propose critical existentialism as the solution to the most fundamental of problems, that of making sense. * Alan D. Schrift, Grinnell College *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
367 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-3995-0833-9 (9781399508339)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2022
1st Edition
Edinburgh University Press
€25.49
Available for download
Person
Jeffrey A. Bell is Professor of Philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University. He has recently been a Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professor in Philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London, during which time much of this book was written. He is the author of numerous books and articles on Deleuze and Deleuze and Guattari, including Deleuze and Guattari's What is Philosophy?: A Critical Introduction and Guide (Edinburgh University Press, 2016), Deleuze's Hume (Edinburgh University Press, 2008), Philosophy at the Edge of Chaos (University of Toronto Press, 2006) and The Problem of Difference: Phenomenology and Poststructuralism (University of Toronto Press, 1998). Bell is co-editor with Paul Livingston and Andrew Cutrofello of Beyond the Analytic-Continental Divide: Pluralist Philosophy in the Twenty-First Century (Routledge, 2015) and with Claire Colebrook of Deleuze and History (Edinburgh University Press, 2009).
Content
Introduction
?1 Making Sense of Life
Signs of Jealousy
...to be undermined
Hume and delirium
Making sense and problems
Making Sense of God
Spinoza and the 'inmost essence' of God
The ultimate elements of nature
Making sense of things
Matters of Taste
The truth one deserves
Hume's "Of the Standard of Taste"
Constructing problems
?2 Communication Problems
Signal-sign systemsInformation theory
Signal-sign systems (with excursus on ethology)
Making Sense of Stories
Political narrative
To think against one's will
Plato on contradictory perceptions
Coping with loss (Plato, Stoics, Spinoza)
Authenticity (Heidegger)
?3 Making Sense of Politics
Arbitrary Power
Forced narratives
Making sense of capital
Challenging Narratives
Good faith/bad faith narratives
Conspiracy theories?
?4 Stop Making Sense
Existentialism Revisited
Kierkegaard and infinite difference
Sartre on bad faith
Camus and metaphysical rebellion
Facts and Fictions
Finding one's way
Adorno and critical existentialism
?5 Towards a Critical Existentialism
A Sense of Place
Justified murder
Wayfinding
...a fond perdu
Pure Market Illusions
A family affair
Hume and improvement
"...but it is legal."
Critical existentialism
Freedom
Law
Progress
Conclusion
Bibliography
?1 Making Sense of Life
Signs of Jealousy
...to be undermined
Hume and delirium
Making sense and problems
Making Sense of God
Spinoza and the 'inmost essence' of God
The ultimate elements of nature
Making sense of things
Matters of Taste
The truth one deserves
Hume's "Of the Standard of Taste"
Constructing problems
?2 Communication Problems
Signal-sign systemsInformation theory
Signal-sign systems (with excursus on ethology)
Making Sense of Stories
Political narrative
To think against one's will
Plato on contradictory perceptions
Coping with loss (Plato, Stoics, Spinoza)
Authenticity (Heidegger)
?3 Making Sense of Politics
Arbitrary Power
Forced narratives
Making sense of capital
Challenging Narratives
Good faith/bad faith narratives
Conspiracy theories?
?4 Stop Making Sense
Existentialism Revisited
Kierkegaard and infinite difference
Sartre on bad faith
Camus and metaphysical rebellion
Facts and Fictions
Finding one's way
Adorno and critical existentialism
?5 Towards a Critical Existentialism
A Sense of Place
Justified murder
Wayfinding
...a fond perdu
Pure Market Illusions
A family affair
Hume and improvement
"...but it is legal."
Critical existentialism
Freedom
Law
Progress
Conclusion
Bibliography