
The Test Drive
Avital Ronell(Author)
University of Illinois Press
Published on 10. December 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-252-07535-3 (ISBN)
Description
The Test Drive deals with the war perpetrated by highly determined reactionary forces on science and research. How does the government at once promote and prohibit scientific testing and undercut the importance of experimentation? To what extent is testing at the forefront of theoretical and practical concerns today? Addressed to those who are left stranded by speculative thinking and unhinged by cognitive discourse, The Test Drive points to a toxic residue of uninterrogated questions raised by Nietzsche, Husserl and Derrida. Ranging from the scientific probe to modalities of testing that include the limits of friendship or love, this work explores the crucial operations of an uncontestable legitimating machine. Avital Ronell offers a tour-de-force reading of legal, pharmaceutical, artistic, scientific, Zen, and historical grids that depend upon different types of testability, involving among other issues what it means to put oneself to the test.
Reviews / Votes
"A brilliant success. Ronell's book makes us better understand who we are and what 'drives' us--that is to say, this is a book of the very first rank of importance."--Ruediger Campe, professor of German, Johns Hopkins University"As Ronell pursues the conceptual, figural, rhetorical, and even visual investigation of all the registers of testing, her line of argument remains exceptionally clear. The writing is always astute and imaginative--even witty. The Test Drive is cogently argued, exceptionally erudite, and stunningly original work."--Hent de Vries, author of Religion and Violence: Philosophical Reflections from Kant to Derrida
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
29 photographs
Dimensions
Height: 221 mm
Width: 142 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
572 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-252-07535-3 (9780252075353)
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

Previous edition

Avital Ronell
The Test Drive
Book
05/2005
University of Illinois Press
€35.89
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Avital Ronell is a professor of German, English, and comparative literature at New York University, where she also codirects the program in Trauma and Violence Transdiciplinary Studies. She is the author of Stupidity, Crack Wars, and other books.
Content
Contents<<FL>>Part IProving GroundsPart IITrial RunsPart III On Passing the TestPart IVThe Test Drive: On Nietzsche's <<MDUL>>Gay Science<<MDNM>>Part VTrial Balloon: Husserl to Front Weatherman #414Part VITesting Your Love, or: Breaking Up
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Methodology, Testing
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Methodology, Testing